Populace
(Pop"u*lace) n. [F. populace, fr. It. popolaccio, popolazzo, fr. popolo people, L. populus.
See People.] The common people; the vulgar; the multitude, — comprehending all persons not distinguished
by rank, office, education, or profession. Pope.
To . . . calm the peers and please the populace.
Daniel.
They . . . call us Britain's barbarous populaces.
Tennyson. Syn. — Mob; people; commonalty.
Populacy
(Pop"u*la*cy) n. Populace. [Obs.] Feltham.
Popular
(Pop"u*lar) a. [L. popularis, fr. populus people: cf. F. populaire. See People.]
1. Of or pertaining to the common people, or to the whole body of the people, as distinguished from a
select portion; as, the popular voice; popular elections. "Popular states." Bacon. "So the popular vote
inclines." Milton.
The men commonly held in popular estimation are greatest at a distance.
J. H. Newman. 2. Suitable to common people; easy to be comprehended; not abstruse; familiar; plain.
Homilies are plain popular instructions.
Hooker. 3. Adapted to the means of the common people; possessed or obtainable by the many; hence, cheap; common; ordinary; inferior; as,
popular prices; popular amusements.
The smallest figs, called popular figs, . . . are, of all others, the basest and of least account.
Holland. 4. Beloved or approved by the people; pleasing to people in general, or to many people; as, a popular
preacher; a popular law; a popular administration.
5. Devoted to the common people; studious of the favor of the populace. [R.]
Such popular humanity is treason.
Addison. 6. Prevailing among the people; epidemic; as, a popular disease. [Obs.] Johnson.
Popular action (Law), an action in which any person may sue for penalty imposed by statute. Blackstone.
