Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun The common people of ancient Rome.
- noun The common people; the populace.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun The lower order of citizens in ancient Rome; the plebeians; hence, in general, the populace.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun The commonalty of ancient Rome who were citizens without the usual political rights; the plebeians; -- distinguished from the
patricians . - noun Hence, the common people; the populace; -- construed as a pl.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun Plural form of
pleb . - noun The
common people , as awhole , or as agroup .
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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[263] The distinction between the Roman people and the tribes, is also observed by Tacitus, who substitutes the word plebs, meaning, the lowest class of the populace.
The Lives of the Twelve Caesars, Volume 02: Augustus Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus
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The opinions of those plebs is deeply suspect, such that their hype must be validated by those in the upper tier, those who know How Writing Is Done.
The Latest Teacup Tempest Hal Duncan 2007
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The opinions of those plebs is deeply suspect, such that their hype must be validated by those in the upper tier, those who know How Writing Is Done.
Archive 2007-02-01 Hal Duncan 2007
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Padda, Burghelm, and Oiddi (it is pleasant to preserve these little personal touches) -- proceeded to baptize the 'plebs' -- that is to say, the servile Anglicised Celt-Euskarian substratum -- up and down the country villages.
Science in Arcady Grant Allen 1873
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Porta del Popolo; and the Bustum, where the bodies of the emperor and his family were burnt, is supposed to have stood on the site of the church of the Madonna of that name.] [Footnote 263: The distinction between the Roman people and the tribes, is also observed by Tacitus, who substitutes the word plebs, meaning, the lowest class of the populace.] [Footnote 264: Those of his father Octavius, and his father by adoption,
De vita Caesarum Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus
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They went through last week at the expense of the much more talented Maria, and the plebs are angry.
Betting Extra: X Factor Betting Odds – First Elimination 2005
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She had a very quick mind for anything political or financial—had she not been born a woman, and given her spirit, there is no telling what she might have done—and the moment she grasped it she was horrified, for Terentia was an aristocrat to her core, and to her the notion of privatizing state land and giving it to the plebs was a step on the road to the destruction of Rome.
Imperium Robert Harris 2006
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She had a very quick mind for anything political or financial—had she not been born a woman, and given her spirit, there is no telling what she might have done—and the moment she grasped it she was horrified, for Terentia was an aristocrat to her core, and to her the notion of privatizing state land and giving it to the plebs was a step on the road to the destruction of Rome.
Imperium Robert Harris 2006
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Many in Rome wanted to see the restoration, most people because the tribunate of the plebs was a hallowed institution in proper harmony with the mos maiorum, and not a few people because they missed the vigor and buzz of the old days in the lower Forum Romanum when some militant demagogue fired up the Plebs until fists swung and hired ex-gladiators waded into the fray.
Fortune's Favorites McCullough, Colleen, 1937- 1993
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The tribune of the plebs was a clever man and not a bad speaker; he had now got amongst his opponents a man of insolent temper and hot tongue, whom he could irritate and provoke into saying things which would bring odium not only upon himself, but upon his cause and upon the whole of his order.
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They treated certain types of people with absolute disdain, and referred to them as ‘plebs’ or ‘grockles’, and the police were always called ‘plod’.
Sexism, vandalism and bullying: inside the Boris Johnson-era Bullingdon Club Harriet Sherwood 2019
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