Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “proletariat” come from?

Proletariat derives from French prolétariat, composed of French pro- from Latin pro meaning "before" and Latin -arius, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European bʰuH-.

proletariat (English): The working class or lower class; The wage...

Definitions

  1. The working class or lower class; The wage...

Ancestry of “proletariat”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Frenchprolétariatproletariat
2Frenchprolétaireproletarian
3Latinprōlētārius—
4Latinprōlēs—
5Latinprō-—
6Proto-Italic*pro-—
7Proto-Indo-Europeanpro-toward, forward
8Proto-Indo-Europeanpor-to give birth; forward, through; going, passage
9Proto-Indo-Europeanper-before, in front; first; to go through
10Proto-Indo-Europeanpr̥tóspassed , crossed

Words derived from “proletariat”

  • prole
  • prolefeed
  • semiproletariat
  • protoproletariat
  • neo-proletariat
Every word from Proto-Indo-European pr̥tós →