Plebeian

(ple-be'yin.) [From L. plebeius, pertaining to the common people. ] A person in the lower ranks of society. Among the Romans, a free citizen,belonging to that cla which was distinguished from the senator ian and equestrian orders. The plebeians at first were employed in cultivating the lands, and in the exercise of trades and mechanical profe ions; but in time they broke through this illiberal restraint, and claimed a participation with the other orders in places of trust,dignity, and emolument. Their power, from the first appointment of tribunes, in the year of the city 260, gradually increased, till it became an overmatch for that of the senate. [s. 716]