Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “proletarian” come from?

Proletarian comes from Latin proletarius, formed from the prefix pro- and Latin -arius, ultimately deriving from Proto-Indo-European roots including pro-, bʰuH-, per-, and pr̥tós.

proletarian (English): Of or relating to the proletariat; A member of...

Definitions

  1. Of or relating to the proletariat; A member of...

Ancestry of “proletarian”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Latinprōlētārius—
2Latinprōlēs—
3Latinprō-—
4Proto-Italic*pro-—
5Proto-Indo-Europeanpro-toward, forward
6Proto-Indo-Europeanpor-to give birth; forward, through; going, passage
7Proto-Indo-Europeanper-before, in front; first; to go through
8Proto-Indo-Europeanpr̥tóspassed , crossed

Words derived from “proletarian”

  • proletarianization
  • proletarianisation
  • proletarianism
  • proletarianize
  • nonproletarian
  • proletarianise
  • protoproletarian
  • non-proletarian
Every word from Proto-Indo-European pr̥tós →