Proletariate

Proletariate, a term used to denote the lowest and poorest classes of the community. It is derived, through the French, from the Latin proletarii, the name given in the census of Servius Tullius to the lowest of the centuries, who were so called to indicate that they were valuable to the state only as rearers of offspring (proles). The word has come much into use in the literature of Socialism (q.v.); see also MARX.