'Popular' once meant 'of the common people,' often with condescension — 'widely liked' came in the 1700s.
Liked, admired, or enjoyed by many people; of or carried on by the people as a whole.
From Latin 'popularis' (of the people, belonging to the people, common, democratic), from 'populus' (the people, a nation, the citizenry). The ultimate origin of Latin 'populus' is disputed — the most widely accepted view is that it is Etruscan or of Italic substrate origin rather than inherited PIE, since no convincing cognates appear in other Indo-European branches. In Roman political vocabulary, the 'populares' were the faction claiming to champion the common people against the aristocratic 'optimates' — a tension shaping Republican politics for centuries. The English word entered in the 15th century carrying this political meaning (of or for the people) before shifting in the 17th and 18th centuries toward
In Roman politics, 'populāris' was a loaded term. The 'populārēs' were politicians who bypassed the Senate to appeal directly to the people's assemblies — figures like Julius Caesar and the Gracchi brothers. Their opponents, the 'optimātēs' (the best men), saw 'popular' as a dirty word meaning 'demagogic.' This political tension — does 'popular' mean 'democratic' or 'pandering'? — still runs