Crossword clues for plebeian
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Plebeian \Ple*be"ian\ (pl[-e]*b[=e]"yan), a. [L. plebeius, from plebs, plebis, the common people: cf. F. pl['e]b['e]ien.]
Of or pertaining to the Roman plebs, or common people.
Of or pertaining to the common people; vulgar; common; as, plebeian sports; a plebeian throng.
Plebeian \Ple*be"ian\, n.
One of the plebs, or common people of ancient Rome, in distinction from patrician.
One of the common people, or lower rank of men.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
"member of the lowest class," 1530s, from Latin plebius "person not of noble rank," from adjective meaning "of the common people" (see plebeian (adj.)).
also plebian, "of or characteristic of the lower class," 1560s in a Roman historical sense, from Latin plebeius "belonging to the plebs," earlier plebes, "the populace, the common people" (as opposed to patricians, etc.), also "commonality; the mass, the multitude; the lower class," from PIE *ple- (see pleio-). In general (non-historical) use from 1580s.
Wiktionary
a. 1 Of or pertaining to the Roman plebs, or common people. 2 Of or pertaining to the common people; vulgar; common. n. 1 One of the plebs, or common people of ancient Rome, in distinction from patrician. 2 (context archaic English) One of the common people, or lower rank of men.
WordNet
adj. of the common people of ancient Rome; "a plebeian magistrate" [ant: proletarian, patrician]
of or associated with the great masses of people; "the common people in those days suffered greatly"; "behavior that branded him as common"; "his square plebeian nose"; "a vulgar and objectionable person"; "the unwashed masses" [syn: common, vulgar, unwashed]
n. one of the common people [syn: pleb]
Usage examples of "plebeian".
The trial would take place in the Bribery Court, as the prosecutors were all patrician and therefore could not use Cato and the Plebeian Assembly.
These assertions are deemed fitting as an introduction to the tale, which is of plebeians and contains no one with even the ghost of a title.
Lex Ogulnia, increasing the number of the Pontiffs and Augurs, and enacting that a certain number of them should be taken from the Plebeians 51 339.
It amused him that he looked as harshly plebeian as his cousin Gis looked aristocratic.
The nobles, who claimed their genuine or fabulous descent from the independent and victorious Franks, have asserted and abused the indefeasible right of conquest over a prostrate crowd of slaves and plebeians, to whom they imputed the imaginary disgrace of Gallic or Roman extraction.
Plebeian Assembly to discuss the merits of this favored candidate-and lambaste his rivals.
It was very natural for the plebeians, oppressed by debt, or apprehensive of injuries, to implore the protection of some powerful chief, who acquired over their persons and property the same absolute right as, among the Greeks and Romans, a master exercised over his slaves.
City and disdaining anything so plebeian as a signal from his rider, shd to a plunging, bucking halt, spraying sand and gravel over the gate attendants scattering from his path.
As soon as they were relieved by the absence of the plebeian multitude, they encouraged each other, by interviews and messages, to accomplish their vow, and hasten their departure.
The most active and successful of the Plebeians accumulated wealth, aspired to honors, deserved triumphs, contracted alliances, and, after some generations, assumed the pride of ancient nobility.
A common New-England rider with his toes turned out, his elbows jerking and the daylight showing under him at every step, bestriding a cantering beast of the plebeian breed, thick at every point where he should be thin, and thin at every point where he should be thick, is not one of those noble objects that bewitch the world.
The acquiescence of the provincials encouraged their governors to acquire, or perhaps to usurp, a discretionary power of employing the rack, to extort from vagrants or plebeian criminals the confession of their guilt, till they insensibly proceeded to confound the distinction of rank, and to disregard the privileges of Roman citizens.
It was always beneficial, he felt, for an expedenced engineer to immerse himself in the plebeian from time to time, to work with a fluid-state hydrometer in- stead of giving orders.
The rapacious Vandals confiscated the patrimonial estates of the senators, and intercepted the regular subsidies, which relieved the poverty and encouraged the idleness of the plebeians.
The main body is composed of a promiscuous crowd of slaves, increased by the accidental concourse of idle or dependent plebeians.