Standard Lemma guide

proletarianization

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˌpɹəʊ.lɪˌtɛː.ɹɪ.ə.naɪˈzeɪ.ʃn̩/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • General-American: /ˌpɹoʊ.ləˌtɛ.ɹi.ə.nəˈzeɪ.ʃ(ə)n/
  • General-American: /ˈpɹoʊ-/
  • General-American: /-ˌnaɪ-/
  • General-American: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -eɪʃən

1

noun

Meaning 1

The act or process of making somebody or something proletarian.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: British, English, Oxford, US, countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

The act or process of making somebody or something proletarian.

The social process whereby people move from being either employers, unemployed, or self-employed to being employed as wage labour by employers.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: British, English, Marxism, Oxford, US, countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: proletarization

Antonyms: bourgeoisification, embourgeoisement

History

Etymology

From proletarianize + -ation (suffix indicating the result of an action or process).

Across languages

Translations

10 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Basque: proletartzea — act or process of making somebody or something proletarian
  • Catalan: proletarització — act or process of making somebody or something proletarian
  • Chinese Mandarin: 無產階級化 /无产阶级化 (wúchǎnjiējíhuà) — act or process of making somebody or something proletarian
  • Czech: proletarizace — act or process of making somebody or something proletarian
  • French: prolétarisation — act or process of making somebody or something proletarian
  • Portuguese: proletarização — act or process of making somebody or something proletarian
  • Russian: пролетариза́ция (proletarizácija) — act or process of making somebody or something proletarian
  • Spanish: proletarización — act or process of making somebody or something proletarian
  • Swedish: proletarisering — act or process of making somebody or something proletarian
  • Arabic: بَلْتَرَةٌ (baltaratun) — social process whereby people become employed as wage labour by employers