vulgus
Americannoun
-
the common people; masses.
-
an exercise in Latin formerly required of English public-school pupils.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of vulgus
Borrowed into English from Latin around 1680–90
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Horace introduces that series of his Odes which most breathes a national spirit by disclaiming all sympathy with the ‘profanum vulgus.’
From The Roman Poets of the Augustan Age: Virgil by Sellar, W. Y.
Odi profanum vulgus, I hate your swearing and hectoring fellows.—H. W.
From Poems of James Russell Lowell With biographical sketch by Nathan Haskell Dole by Lowell, James Russell
It is from vulgus, the common people, the mob, and means both common and unrefined, but has no relation to indecency.
From Write It Right A Little Blacklist of Literary Faults by Bierce, Ambrose
“Tell it not in Gath” that this charming sanctuary lies hidden away in Derbyshire, come away privately with us and enjoy its beauties undisturbed—“Odi profanum vulgus et arceo.”
From Stained Glass Tours in England by Sherrill, Charles Hitchcock
However much these may catch the attention and awaken the admiration of the ignobile vulgus, they cannot fail to excite any thing but complacency in minds accustomed to the more chaste productions of the pencil.
From Gleanings by the Way by Clark, John A.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
