proletariat
The class of modern wage labourers who, having no means of production of their own, are reduced to selling their labour power in order to live.
Engels's own definition, added to the 1888 English edition.
- Frederick Engels, Manifesto of the Communist Party, English edition, note by Engels, 1888
Forms in the original
- proletariat (sg)
- proletarians (pl)
- proletarian (adj)
Renderings in plain English
Usage counts show how often each rendering appears by default in published text. They describe community usage, not correctness.
working class project default
Why: The everyday English name for the same class.
Limitation: "Working class" is often used loosely today; the Manifesto's sense is specifically those who must sell their labour power to live.
0 uses · forms: working class (sg), workers (pl), working-class (adj)
proletariat
Why: Keeps the original term.
0 uses · forms: proletariat (sg), proletarians (pl), proletarian (adj)