Part 411

Pop"u*la*cy (?), n. Populace. [Obs.] Feltham.

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.

||Pop`u*la"res (?), n. pl. [L.] The people or the people's party, in ||ancient Rome, as opposed to the optimates.

Pop`u*lar"i*ty (?), n.; pl. Popularities (#). [L. popularitas an effort to please the people: cf. F. popularitÈ.] 1. The quality or state of being popular; especially, the state of being esteemed by, or of being in favor with, the people at large; good will or favor proceeding from the people; as, the popularity of a law, statesman, or a book.

A popularity which has lasted down to our time.

Macaulay.

2. The quality or state of being adapted or pleasing to common, poor, or vulgar people; hence, cheapness; inferiority; vulgarity.

This gallant laboring to avoid popularity falls into a habit of affectation.

B. Jonson.

3. Something which obtains, or is intended to obtain, the favor of the vulgar; claptrap.

Popularities, and circumstances which . . . sway the ordinary judgment.

Bacon.

4. The act of courting the favor of the people. [Obs.] "Indicted . . . for popularity and ambition." Holland.

5. Public sentiment; general passion. [R.]