plebs

== English == === Etymology === From Latin plēbs (“the plebeian class”), variant of earlier plēbēs. Later also understood as the plural of pleb. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /plɛbz/ Rhymes: -ɛbz === Noun === plebs plural of pleb === Noun === plebs pl (plural only) (historical) The plebeian class of Ancient Rome. Synonym: plebeiate The common people, especially (derogatory) the mob. Synonyms: see Thesaurus:commonalty a. 1657, George Daniel, "The Author" in Poems, Vol. II, p. 131: For 'tis an Easier ThingTo make Trees Leape, and Stones selfe-burthens bring(As once Amphion to the walls of Thæbes,)Then Stop the giddie Clamouring of Plebs... 1993, Max Cavalera, "Refuse/Resist", Sepultura, Chaos A.D. Chaos A.D. / Tanks On The Streets / Confronting Police / Bleeding The Plebs ==== Usage notes ==== Although the Latin plebs was usually declined as a singular group noun, English plebs is usually treated as grammatically plural in all its senses. ==== Derived terms ==== plebiscite tribune of the plebs ==== Related terms ==== plebeian, plebe, pleb ==== Translations ==== === References === “plebs, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, September 2006. == Czech == === Pronunciation === IPA(key): [ˈplɛps] === Noun === plebs m inan plebs, commoners ==== Declension ==== ==== Related terms ==== === Further reading === “plebs”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957 “plebs”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989 == Dutch == === Etymology === Borrowed from Latin plēbs. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /plɛps/ Hyphenation: plebs === Noun === plebs n (uncountable, no diminutive) (derogatory) plebs, rabble, riffraff Synonyms: gepeupel, gespuis, grauw, tuig van de richel (historical) plebs, commoners (non-aristocratic class in ancient Rome, esp. during the Roman Republic) ==== Related terms ==== plebejer plebejisch plebisciet == Latin == === Alternative forms === plēbēs, plēbis (archaic) === Etymology === From Old Latin plēbēs and ultimately from the root *pleh₁- (“fill”), though the exact development of the term is unclear. According to Schrijver, the term derives from the same pre-form as Ancient Greek πληθύς (plēthús), which Schrijver derives from a hysterodynamic form *pléh₁dʰuh₁(s) (acc sg, *pl̥h₁dʰwéh₁m̥; gen sg, *pl̥h₁dʰuh₁ós). Schrijver suggests that Proto-Italic outcome of this sequence was *plēðūs, *plēðēm, *plēðes, wherein the oblique forms were generalized from the PIE accusative singular form. Ultimately, the inflectional pattern of such a form would be synchronically irregular, perhaps leading to a remodeling. The term was reshaped into a fifth-declension form on the basis of the accusative singular *plēðēm, just as diēs was created on the model of diēm. Kortlandt, however, argues that Proto-Indo-European *-dʰw- would evolve into Latin -b-, whereas intervocalic *-dʰ- yields Latin -d- (e.g. Latin vidua < Proto-Indo-European *h₁widʰéwh₂). Thus, Kortlandt reconstructs an original proterodynamic paradigm. De Vaan reconstructs Proto-Italic *plēðū- ~ *plēðw-, itself from Proto-Indo-European *pléh₁dʰ-uh₁- (acc sg, *-uh₁m̥; gen sg, *-weh₁s). The linguist Dariusz Piwowarczyk reconstructs an original u-stem *pleh₁dʰ-us ~ *pleh₁dʰwe/os, the oblique stem of which yielded plēbis, whence the nominative singulars plēbs and plēbēs emerged via back-formation. Piwowarczyk further suggests possible contamination from pūbēs. Cognate with Oscan 𐌐𐌋𐌝𐌚𐌓𐌉𐌊𐌔 (plífriks, “plebeian”, nom. sg.), perhaps derived from Proto-Italic *plēðros (adjective). It is also possibly related to Venetic 𐌐𐌋𐌄𐌃⸱𐌄⸱𐌉 (pled⸱e⸱i). See also Latin populus and the Greek-origin borrowing plēthōra. === Pronunciation === (Classical Latin) IPA(key): [ˈpɫeːps] (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): [ˈplɛbs] === Noun === plēbs f (genitive plēbis); third declension (uncountable) plebeians, plebs, common people (countable and uncountable) populace, population, stock (Late Latin, countable and uncountable, Christianity) laity, congregation, parish ==== Usage notes ==== Alongside plēbs, the older nominative singular form plēbēs f sg continued to be used with singular verb and adjective agreement in authors such as Cicero and Livy. In Livy, plēbēs is sometimes used instead as the subject of a plural verb; in such cases, it is ambiguous whether the noun itself is plural, or singular with the verb showing notional agreement (as sometimes seen with collective nouns such as populus). The first unambiguously plural form to be attested is accusative plēbēs, found in Columella and later in Apuleius. Plural genitive, dative, and ablative forms are not attested in Classical Latin, but can be found from Late Latin onwards. Other old forms with continued use include a fifth-declension genitive singular plēbē̆ī or plēbī (versus third-declension plēbis) and a fifth-declension dative singular plēbē̆ī (versus plēbī). By the end of the first century BC, the use of fifth declension forms seems to have been an archaism. The earliest attested use of the nominative singular form plēbs is found in a fragment attributed by Servius to the historian Cassius Hemina, who wrote in the second century BC; it is not found on inscriptions until Augustus. ==== Declension ==== Third-declension noun (i-stem or imparisyllabic non-i-stem). The non-i-stem variant is found in Medieval Latin. ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Descendants ==== === References === === Further reading === “plebs”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press “plebs”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers "plebs", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887) “plebs”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette. Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894), Latin Phrase-Book‎[3], London: Macmillan and Co. “plebs”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper’s Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1911), “plēbs”, in Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch (in German), page 494 Walther von Wartburg (1928–2002), “plēbs”, in Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch (in German), volume 9: Placabilis–Pyxis, page 55 Walde, Alois; Hofmann, Johann Baptist (1954), “plēbēs”, in Lateinisches etymologisches Wörterbuch (in German), 3rd edition, volume 2, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, pages 320-321 Ernout, Alfred; Meillet, Antoine (1985), “plēbs, plēps”, in Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue latine: histoire des mots‎[4] (in French), 4th edition, with additions and corrections of Jacques André, Paris: Klincksieck, published 2001, pages 909-910 == Polish == === Etymology === Learned borrowing from Latin plēbs. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ˈplɛps/ Rhymes: -ɛps Syllabification: plebs === Noun === plebs m inan (collective, derogatory) plebs (common people, hoi polloi, the mob) (collective, historical, Ancient Rome) plebs (plebeian class of Ancient Rome) ==== Declension ==== === Further reading === “plebs”, in Wielki słownik języka polskiego‎[5] (in Polish), Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN “plebs”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎[6] (in Polish)