1. to reduce (a person or group) to the status of a proletarian; to cause to become a member of the working class
Usage: chiefly British spelling (American: proletarianize); often used in historical or political contexts

Examples

• Industrial capitalism threatened to proletarianise the middle class.
• The economic policies proletarianised many skilled craftspeople.
• Historians debate whether urbanization proletarianised or enriched workers.
• The factory system proletarianised agricultural laborers who migrated to cities.
• Marx argued that capitalism would proletarianise the entire population except for a wealthy elite.