bourgeoisie
The class of modern capitalists, owners of the means of social production and employers of wage labour.
Engels's own definition, added to the 1888 English edition. In the Manifesto the word names a class defined by what it owns and by employing others for wages, not a general word for the well-off.
- Frederick Engels, Manifesto of the Communist Party, English edition, note by Engels, 1888
Forms in the original
- bourgeoisie (sg)
- bourgeois (adj)
Renderings in plain English
Usage counts show how often each rendering appears by default in published text. They describe community usage, not correctness.
capitalist class project default
Why: Makes the class reference immediately understandable to contemporary readers.
Limitation: Foregrounds ownership of capital; the historical term also carries the class's origin in the medieval towns.
0 uses · forms: capitalist class (sg), capitalist (adj)
bourgeoisie
Why: Keeps the original term, which is still used in English.
Limitation: Many readers know it only as a loose word for the middle class.
0 uses · forms: bourgeoisie (sg), bourgeois (adj)