propertylessadj.n.
/ˈprɒpətɪləs/, U.S. /ˈprɑpərdiləs/ Esp. of a person, or a group or class of people: devoid of property; having no property. Also occasionally as n. (with the): propertyless people as a class.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > non-possession > [adjective] > having no possessions
goodlessc1225
catelles1362
unpropertied1767
propertyless1822
possessionless1873
1822 W. Cobbett Cottage Econ. 107 They were formerly the sons and daughters of small farmers; they are now the progeny of miserable property-less labourers.
1880 Fortn. Rev. Apr. 536 The population will always be the propertyless, pauperised labourers.
1886 W. Graham Social Probl. 333 The fear of the uncertain morrow, with all its danger for the propertiless.
1912 H. Belloc Servile State i. 16 Two classes of free citizens, the one capitalist or owning, the other propertyless or proletarian.
1941 R. A. Humphreys Latin Amer. 20 For the Indian and the propertyless, independence meant not new freedom but new masters.
1977 Dædalus Summer 72 They predicted, in Hegelian fashion, an abolition of private property and class ownership of the means of production by a regenerated communism among the propertyless masses.
2005 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 24 Feb. 49/1 The former found..a remarkable level of movement out of the propertyless proletariat into the stable, home-owning middle class.
Derivatives
ˈpropertylessness n. the state of being propertyless.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > non-possession > [noun] > non-possession of property
possessionlessness1905
propertylessness1909
1909 E. T. Devine Rep. Establishing Employment Bureau in N.Y. 203 Propertylessness (particularly with reference to ownership of homes).
1992 Canad. Woman Stud. Fall 102/2 The introduction of settled agriculture within the tribal situation had led to the propertylessness of women.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
adj.n.1822