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History vocabulary · Social History

Plebeian

Meaning in history, with examples

nounCommon term

In history, plebeian means: In ancient Rome, a citizen belonging to the order outside the hereditary patrician elite.

In Turkish: pleb

How it is used

Plebeian does not automatically mean poor or enslaved; some plebeians were wealthy.

Example sentences

  1. A prosperous plebeian could own property without becoming a patrician.

    Economic position and membership of an order are distinct.

  2. The inscription names a plebeian who held public office.

    The social category does not imply permanent exclusion from all office.

Common collocations

  • plebeian citizens
  • plebeian status
  • social classA group of people in a society who share a similar economic position, such as wealth, occupation or education, and often similar status and opportunities.
  • ancientBelonging to the very distant past, especially to the period before the end of the Western Roman Empire in the fifth century AD.

More terms: Social History

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