Picture ancient Rome split into two named groups. On one side, a small number of old noble families, the patricians. On the other, everybody else — the plebeians: farmers, , builders, soldiers. What put you on that second side was birth, not money. Every modern use of this word is that second side, carried out of Rome and pointed at somebody today.
From the word’s history
The packet's Wiktionary note derives the word from Latin plebeius "a commoner; common", from plebes, the body of ordinary Roman citizens. So the Roman picture is not a metaphor here; it is literally where the word comes from.
字典的來源說明寫著：來自拉丁文 plēbēius（平民的、一般的），字根是 plēbēs，也就是古羅馬一般市民這一群人。所以上面那個羅馬畫面不是比喻。那就是這個字真正的出處。中間可能還受過中古法文 plebeien 的影響。
Wiktionary etymology supplied in this packet (kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4:766670035): "From Latin plēbēius ('a commoner; common') ... from Latin plēbēs"
登入就可以看每一支怎麼連回核心畫面。