PLEBS (from the

See also:

• ROOT (late O.E. rot, adopted from Scand., cf. Norw. and Swed. rot, Dan. rod; the true O.E. word was wyrt, plant, represented in Ger. Wurz or Wurzel; the ultimate root is the same in both words, and is seen in Lat. radix)
• ROOT, ELIHU (1845– )

root seen in

See also:

• LAT

Lat. plenus, full; cf. Gr. 7rXit9os)  , the " multitude," or unprivileged class in the early Roman state . For the origin and history of this order see PATRICIANS and NOBILITY . Its disqualifications were originally based on descent; but after the political equalization of the two orders the name was applied to the lower classes of the population with-out reference to their descent . Under the empire the word is regularly used of the city proletariate, or of the commons as distinct from knights and senators .