• People

    Pronunciation

    • UK IPA: /ˈpiːpÉ™l/
    • US IPA: /ˈpipÉ™l/, /ˈpiplÌ©/
    • Rhymes: -iːpÉ™l
    • Hyphenation: peo + ple
    • Homophones: papal some dialects

    Origin

    From Middle English peple (""), peeple (""), from Anglo-Norman people, from Old French pueple, peuple, pople (modern French peuple), from Latin populus ("people"), of unknown origin. Probably of non-Indo-European origin, from Etruscan. Gradually ousted native Middle English lede, leed ("people") (from Old English lēode).

    Originally a singular noun (e.g. The people is hungry, and weary, and thirsty, in the wilderness --2 Samuel 17:29, King James Version), the plural aspect of people is probably due to influence from Middle English lede, leed, a plural since Old English times (compare Old English lēode ("people, men, persons"), plural of Old English lēod ("man, person")). See also lede, leod.

    Full definition of people

    Noun

    people

    (countable and uncountable; plural peoples)
    1. Used as plural of person; a body of human beings considered generally or collectively; a group of two or more persons.
      • ca. 1607: XXII people was in this parrish drownd. (Plaque recording the Bristol Channel floods, 1607)
      • 1813, Jane Austen, S:Pride and Prejudice/Chapter 6, "What a charming amusement for young people this is, Mr. Darcy! There is nothing like dancing after all. I consider it as one of the first refinements of polished society."
      • 1918, W. B. Maxwell, The Mirror and the Lamp Chapter 12, There were many wooden chairs for the bulk of his visitors, and two wicker armchairs with red cloth cushions for superior people. From the packing-cases had emerged some Indian clubs, â€¦, and all these articles â€¦ made a scattered and untidy decoration that Mrs. Clough assiduously dusted and greatly cherished.
      • 2013-06-29, A punch in the gut, Mostly, the microbiome is beneficial. It helps with digestion and enables people to extract a lot more calories from their food than would otherwise be possible. Research over the past few years, however, has implicated it in diseases from atherosclerosis to asthma to autism.
    2. Why do so many people commit suicide?
    3. (plural peoples)  Persons forming or belonging to a particular group, such as a nation, class, ethnic group, country, family, etc; folk; community.
      • 1922, Ben Travers, A Cuckoo in the Nest Chapter 1, “… the awfully hearty sort of Christmas cards that people do send to other people that they don't know at all well. You know. The kind that have mottoes like
          Here's rattling good luck and roaring good cheer,
        With lashings of food and great hogsheads of beer.         …”
      • 2013-06-01, Towards the end of poverty, But poverty’s scourge is fiercest below $1.25 (the average of the 15 poorest countries’ own poverty lines, measured in 2005 dollars and adjusted for differences in purchasing power): people below that level live lives that are poor, nasty, brutish and short.
    4. A group of persons regarded as being employees, followers, companions or subjects of a ruler.
    5. One's colleagues or employees.
      • 2001, Vince Flynn, Transfer of Power, p. 250:Kennedy looked down at Flood's desk and thought about the possibilities. "Can you locate him?" "I already have my people checking on all it."
      • 2008, Fern Michaels, Hokus Pokus‎, p. 184:Can I have one of my people get back to your people, Mr. President?" She tried to slam the phone back into the base and failed.
    6. A person's ancestors, relatives or family.
      My people lived through the Black Plague and the Thirty Years War.
    7. The mass of a community as distinguished from a special class (elite); the commonalty; the populace; the vulgar; the common crowd; the citizens.
      • 2013-06-21, Oliver Burkeman, The tao of tech, The dirty secret of the internet is that all this distraction and interruption is immensely profitable. Web companies like to boast about …, or offering services that let you... "share the things you love with the world" and so on. But the real way to build a successful online business is to be better than your rivals at undermining people's control of their own attention.

    Usage notes

    When used to mean "persons" (meaning 1 below), "people" today takes a plural verb. However, in the past it could take a singular verb (see image).

    Synonyms

    Derived terms

    Terms derived from people

    Verb

    1. (transitive) To stock with people or inhabitants; to fill as with people; to populate.
    2. (intransitive) To become populous or populated.
    3. (transitive) To inhabit; to occupy; to populate.
      • a. 1645 John Milton, , lines 7–8:...
        As thick and numberless
        As the gay motes that people the Sun Beams,
        ...

    Derived terms

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