noun · 4 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.lɪˈtɛə.ɹɪ.ət/
General-American:prō'lĭ-târʹē-ət
General-American:/ˌpɹoʊ.lɪˈtɛɚ.i.ət/
Canada:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
CMU ARPABET:P R OW2 L AH0 T EH1 R IY0 AH0 T
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
The lowest class of society; also, the lower classes of society generally; the masses.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: also, derogatory, figuratively, often
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: proletary
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
Wage earners collectively; people who own no capital and depend on their labour for survival; the working class, especially when seen as engaged in a class struggle with the bourgeoisie (“the capital-owning class”).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: Marxism
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: proletarian, proletary, prole
Antonyms: bourgeoisie
3
noun
Meaning 3
The lowest class of citizens, who had no property and few rights, and were regarded as contributing only their offspring to the state.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: Ancient-Rome, historical
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: proletarian, proletary
Antonyms: none provided
4
noun
Meaning 4
a social class comprising those who do manual labor or work for wages
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
there is a shortage of skilled labor in this field
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: labor, labour, working class
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: class, stratum, social class, socio-economic class
Narrower terms: labor force, labor pool, lumpenproletariat, organized labor
History
Etymology
Borrowed from French prolétariat, from prolétaire + -at, from Latin proletārius, from prōlēt- (“offspring”) + -ārius, from stem of prōlēs, from pro- + *olēs (“growth”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h2el- (“to grow, nourish”). By surface analysis, Latin prōlēt- + -ary + -at.
Across languages
Translations
91 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Afrikaans:
werkersklas
— lowest class of society; lower classes of society generally
Albanian:
proletariat
— lowest class of society; lower classes of society generally
Arabic:
بْرُولِيتَارِيَا
(broletāriyā)
— lowest class of society; lower classes of society generally
Armenian:
պրոլետարիատ
(proletariat)
— lowest class of society; lower classes of society generally
Azerbaijani:
proletariat
— lowest class of society; lower classes of society generally
Belarusian:
пралетарыя́т
(praljetaryját)
— lowest class of society; lower classes of society generally
Bengali:
সর্বহারা
(śorbohara)
— lowest class of society; lower classes of society generally
Bulgarian:
пролетариа́т
(proletariát)
— lowest class of society; lower classes of society generally
Burmese:
ပစ္စည်းမဲ့လူတန်းစား
(paccany:mai.lutan:ca:)
— lowest class of society; lower classes of society generally
Catalan:
proletariat
— lowest class of society; lower classes of society generally
Chinese Mandarin:
普罗列塔利亚特
(pǔluóliètǎlìyàtè)
— lowest class of society; lower classes of society generally
Chinese Mandarin:
普羅列塔利亞 /普罗列塔利亚
(pǔluóliètǎlìyà)
— lowest class of society; lower classes of society generally
Chinese Mandarin:
無產階級 /无产阶级
(wúchǎnjiējí)
— lowest class of society; lower classes of society generally
Chinese Mandarin:
普羅列塔利亞特 /普罗列塔利亚特
— lowest class of society; lower classes of society generally
Corsican:
pruletariatu
— lowest class of society; lower classes of society generally
Corsican:
prulitariatu
— lowest class of society; lower classes of society generally
Czech:
proletariát
— lowest class of society; lower classes of society generally
Danish:
proletariat
— lowest class of society; lower classes of society generally
Dutch:
proletariaat
— lowest class of society; lower classes of society generally
Esperanto:
proletaro
— lowest class of society; lower classes of society generally
Estonian:
proletariaat
— lowest class of society; lower classes of society generally
Estonian:
töölisklass
— lowest class of society; lower classes of society generally
Finnish:
proletariaatti
— lowest class of society; lower classes of society generally
Finnish:
työväenluokka
— lowest class of society; lower classes of society generally
Finnish:
alaluokka
— lowest class of society; lower classes of society generally
French:
prolétariat
— lowest class of society; lower classes of society generally
Georgian:
პროლეტარიატი
(ṗroleṭariaṭi)
— lowest class of society; lower classes of society generally
German:
Proletariat
— lowest class of society; lower classes of society generally
Greek:
προλεταριάτο
(proletariáto)
— lowest class of society; lower classes of society generally
Hindi:
सर्वहारा
(sarvahārā)
— lowest class of society; lower classes of society generally
Icelandic:
öreigastétt
— lowest class of society; lower classes of society generally
Indonesian:
proletariat
— lowest class of society; lower classes of society generally
Italian:
proletariato
— lowest class of society; lower classes of society generally
Japanese:
無産階級
(musankaikyū)
— lowest class of society; lower classes of society generally
Japanese:
プロレタリアート
(puroretariāto)
— lowest class of society; lower classes of society generally
Kazakh:
пролетариат
(proletariat)
— lowest class of society; lower classes of society generally
Khmer:
អធន
(ʼaʼthŭən)
— lowest class of society; lower classes of society generally
Khmer:
ពលជីវី
(pŭəlciivii)
— lowest class of society; lower classes of society generally
Khmer:
វណ្ណៈអធន
(vannaʼ ʼaʼthŭən)
— lowest class of society; lower classes of society generally
Korean:
프롤레타리아
(peurolletaria)
— lowest class of society; lower classes of society generally
Korean:
프롤레타리아트
(peurolletariateu)
— lowest class of society; lower classes of society generally
Korean:
무산계급
(musan'gyegeup)
— lowest class of society; lower classes of society generally
Kyrgyz:
пролетариат
(proletariat)
— lowest class of society; lower classes of society generally
Lao:
ຊົນກໍາມະຊີບ
(son kam ma sīp)
— lowest class of society; lower classes of society generally
Latvian:
proletariāts
— lowest class of society; lower classes of society generally
Lithuanian:
proletariatas
— lowest class of society; lower classes of society generally
Macedonian:
пролетарија́т
(proletariját)
— lowest class of society; lower classes of society generally
Malay:
proletariat
— lowest class of society; lower classes of society generally
Norwegian Bokmål:
proletariat
— lowest class of society; lower classes of society generally
Occitan:
proletariat
— lowest class of society; lower classes of society generally
Persian:
پرولتاریا
(poroletâriyâ)
— lowest class of society; lower classes of society generally
Polish:
proletariat
— lowest class of society; lower classes of society generally
Portuguese:
proletariado
— lowest class of society; lower classes of society generally
Romanian:
proletariat
— lowest class of society; lower classes of society generally
Russian:
пролетариа́т
(proletariát)
— lowest class of society; lower classes of society generally
Sardinian:
proletariadu
— lowest class of society; lower classes of society generally
Scottish Gaelic:
mòr-sluagh
— lowest class of society; lower classes of society generally
Serbo-Croatian:
пролетарѝја̄т
— lowest class of society; lower classes of society generally
Serbo-Croatian:
proletarìjāt
— lowest class of society; lower classes of society generally
Sicilian:
prulitariatu
— lowest class of society; lower classes of society generally
Slovak:
proletariát
— lowest class of society; lower classes of society generally
Slovene:
proletariat
— lowest class of society; lower classes of society generally
Spanish:
proletariado
— lowest class of society; lower classes of society generally
Swedish:
proletariat
— lowest class of society; lower classes of society generally
Tajik:
пролетариат
(proletariat)
— lowest class of society; lower classes of society generally
Thai:
กรรมาชีพ
(gam-maa-chîip)
— lowest class of society; lower classes of society generally
Thai:
ชนชั้นกรรมาชีพ
(chon-chán gam-maa-chîip)
— lowest class of society; lower classes of society generally
Turkmen:
proletariat
— lowest class of society; lower classes of society generally
Ukrainian:
пролетаріа́т
(proletariát)
— lowest class of society; lower classes of society generally
Uyghur:
پرولېتارىيات
(prolëtariyat)
— lowest class of society; lower classes of society generally
Uzbek:
proletariat
— lowest class of society; lower classes of society generally
Vietnamese:
giai cấp vô sản
— lowest class of society; lower classes of society generally
Chinese Mandarin:
工薪阶级
(gōngxīnjiējí)
— wage-earners collectively
