groundling
/ˈɡraʊn(d)lɪŋ
/noun
1An unsophisticated or uncritical spectator or reader (originally a member of the part of a theatre audience that stood in the pit below the stage): Dante is not for groundlings...
- Egeon's trial takes place at the front of the stage, with the old man standing among the groundlings defending himself from threatened execution.
- Standing amid the groundlings in front of the stage was a tall, grey, benignly smiling man.
- The best part of the experience though was its immediacy: in open air, daylight and with the ‘front row’ of groundlings leaning on the stage, there was an easy exchange between actors and audience.
With reference to Shakespeare's Hamlet iii. ii. 11
2A person on the ground as opposed to one in a spacecraft or aircraft.
3A fish that lives at the bottom of lakes and streams, especially a gudgeon or loach.
4A creeping or dwarf plant.
Origin
Early 17th century (denoting a fish): from ground1 + -ling; compare with Dutch grondeling, German Gründling 'gudgeon'.