Related Words

Bourgeoisie: In Marxist terms, the middle class: owners of the means of production and employers of the proletariat.

Sumptuary Laws: Laws that regulate the sort of clothing an individual may wear. Classical Rome restricted certain types of garb to the senatorial classes and equestrian classes, for instance. In Classical C . . . View Full Definition

Yeoman: In early Middle English, the term referred to freemen or freeholders, lower-class peasants who had obtained their freedom from serfdom, and as members of the new bourgeoisie were thus free t . . . View Full Definition

Guild: A group of species, possibly unrelated taxonomically, that exploit overlapping resources

Franklin: A medieval profession akin to a cross between a landlord and a real estate agent. In the early medieval political system of feudalism, society was divided theoretically into three estates: ( . . . View Full Definition

Proletariat: In Marxist terms, the working class: this least powerful group works to survive, selling its labor to the bourgeoisie.

Aristocracy: In Marxism, the most elite social class--consisting of individuals who do not work, and hold power through inheritance: kings, queens, princes, princesses, and so on. According to Marx's ana . . . View Full Definition