People definition | Dictionary.com

peo⋅ple

[pee-puh

noun, plural -ples for 4, verb, -pled, -pling.

–noun

1.	persons indefinitely or collectively; persons in general: to find it easy to talk to people; What will people think?

2.	persons, whether men, women, or children, considered as numerable individuals forming a group: Twenty people volunteered to help.

3.	human beings, as distinguished from animals or other beings.

4.	the entire body of persons who constitute a community, tribe, nation, or other group by virtue of a common culture, history, religion, or the like: the people of Australia; the Jewish people.

5.	the persons of any particular group, company, or number (sometimes used in combination): the people of a parish; educated people; salespeople.

6.	the ordinary persons, as distinguished from those who have wealth, rank, influence, etc.: a man of the people.

7.	the subjects, followers, or subordinates of a ruler, leader, employer, etc.: the king and his people.

8.	the body of enfranchised citizens of a state: representatives chosen by the people.

9.	a person's family or relatives: My grandmother's people came from Iowa.

10.	(used in the possessive in Communist or left-wing countries to indicate that an institution operates under the control of or for the benefit of the people, esp. under Communist leadership): people's republic; people's army.

11.	animals of a specified kind: the monkey people of the forest.

–verb (used with object)

12.	to furnish with people; populate.

13.	to supply or stock as if with people: a meadow peopled with flowers.

Origin:
1225–75; ME peple < AF poeple, OF pueple < L populus. See popular

Related forms:

peo⋅ple⋅less, adjective

peopler, noun

Synonyms:
4. See race ² .

Usage note:
People is usually followed by a plural verb and referred to by a plural pronoun: People are always looking for a bargain. The people have made their choice. The possessive is formed regularly, with the apostrophe before the -s: people's desire for a bargain; the people's choice. When people means “the entire body of persons who constitute a community or other group by virtue of a common culture, history, etc.,” it is used as a singular, with the plural peoples: This people shares characteristics with certain inhabitants of central Asia. The aboriginal peoples of the Western Hemisphere speak many different languages. The formation of the possessive is regular; the singular is people's and the plural is peoples'.
At one time, some usage guides maintained that people could not be preceded by a number, as in Fewer than 30 people showed up. This use is now unquestionably standard in all contexts.

per⋅son

[pur-suh

–noun

1.	a human being, whether man, woman, or child: The table seats four persons.

2.	a human being as distinguished from an animal or a thing.

3.	Sociology. an individual human being, esp. with reference to his or her social relationships and behavioral patterns as conditioned by the culture.

4.	Philosophy. a self-conscious or rational being.

5.	the actual self or individual personality of a human being: You ought not to generalize, but to consider the person you are dealing with.

6.	the body of a living human being, sometimes including the clothes being worn: He had no money on his person.

7.	the body in its external aspect: an attractive person to look at.

8.	a character, part, or role, as in a play or story.

9.	an individual of distinction or importance.

10.	a person not entitled to social recognition or respect.

11.	Law. a human being (natural person) or a group of human beings, a corporation, a partnership, an estate, or other legal entity (artificial person or juristic person) recognized by law as having rights and duties.

12.

Grammar. a category found in many languages that is used to distinguish between the speaker of an utterance and those to or about whom he or she is speaking. In English there are three persons in the pronouns, the first represented by I and we, the second by you, and the third by he, she, it, and they. Most verbs have distinct third person singular forms in the present tense, as writes; the verb be has, in addition, a first person singular form am.

13.	Theology. any of the three hypostases or modes of being in the Trinity, namely the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.

—Idioms

14.	be one's own person, to be free from restrictions, control, or dictatorial influence: Now that she's working, she feels that she's her own person.

15.	in person, in one's own bodily presence; personally: Applicants are requested to apply in person.

Origin:
1175–1225; ME persone < L persōna role (in life, a play, or a tale) (LL: member of the Trinity), orig. actor's mask < Etruscan phersu (< Gk prósōpa face, mask) + -na a suffix

Synonyms:
1. Person, individual, personage are terms applied to human beings. Person is the most general and common word: the average person. Individual views a person as standing alone or as a single member of a group: the characteristics of the individual; its implication is sometimes derogatory: a disagreeable individual. Personage is used (sometimes ironically) of an outstanding or illustrious person: We have a distinguished personage visiting us today.

Usage note:
See individual, party, people, they.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To People

peo·ple (pē'pəl)

n. pl. people

Humans considered as a group or in indefinite numbers: People were dancing in the street. I met all sorts of people.
A body of persons living in the same country under one national government; a nationality.
pl. peo·ples A body of persons sharing a common religion, culture, language, or inherited condition of life.
Persons with regard to their residence, class, profession, or group: city people.
The mass of ordinary persons; the populace. Used with the: "those who fear and distrust the people, and wish to draw all powers from them into the hands of the higher classes" (Thomas Jefferson).
The citizens of a political unit, such as a nation or state; the electorate. Used with the.
Persons subordinate to or loyal to a ruler, superior, or employer: The queen showed great compassion for her people.
Family, relatives, or ancestors.
Informal Animals or other beings distinct from humans: Rabbits and squirrels are the furry little people of the woods.

tr.v. peo·pled, peo·pling, peo·ples
To furnish with or as if with people; populate.

[Middle English peple, from Old French pueple, from Latin populus, of Etruscan origin.]
peo'pler n.

Usage Note: As a term meaning "a body of persons sharing a culture," people is a singular noun, as in As a people the Pueblo were noteworthy for their peacefulness. Its plural is peoples: the many and varied peoples of West Africa. But when used to mean "humans," people is plural and has no corresponding singular form. English is not unique in this respect; Spanish, Italian, Russian, and many other languages have a plural word meaning "people" that has no singular. Some grammarians have insisted that people is a collective noun that should not be used as a substitute for persons when referring to a specific number of individuals. By this thinking, it is correct to say Six persons were arrested, not Six people were arrested. But people has always been used in such contexts, and almost no one makes the distinction anymore. Persons is still preferred in legal contexts, however, as in Vehicles containing fewer than three persons may not use the left lane during rush hours. Only the singular person is used in compounds involving a specific numeral: a six-person car; a two-person show. But people is used in other compounds: people mover; people power. These examples are exceptions to the general rule that plural nouns cannot be used in such compounds; note that we do not say teethpaste or books-burning. See Usage Note at man.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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People

Peo"ple\, n. [OE. peple, people, OF. pueple, F. peuple, fr. L. populus. Cf. Populage, Public, Pueblo.]

1. The body of persons who compose a community, tribe, nation, or race; an aggregate of individuals forming a whole; a community; a nation.

Unto him shall the gathering of the people be. --Gen. xlix. 10.

The ants are a people not strong. --Prov. xxx. 25.

Before many peoples, and nations, and tongues. --Rev. x. 11.

Earth's monarchs are her peoples. --Whitter.

A government of all the people, by all the people, for all the people. --T. Parker.

Note: Peopleis a collective noun, generally construed with a plural verb, and only occasionally used in the plural form (peoples), in the sense of nations or races.

2. Persons, generally; an indefinite number of men and women; folks; population, or part of population; as, country people; -- sometimes used as an indefinite subject or verb, like on in French, and man in German; as, people in adversity.

People were tempted to lend by great premiums. --Swift.

People have lived twenty-four days upon nothing but water. --Arbuthnot.

3. The mass of comunity as distinguished from a special class; the commonalty; the populace; the vulgar; the common crowd; as, nobles and people.

And strive to gain his pardon from the people. --Addison.

4. With a possessive pronoun: (a) One's ancestors or family; kindred; relations; as, my people were English. (b) One's subjects; fellow citizens; companions; followers. "You slew great number of his people." --Shak.

Syn: People, Nation.

Usage: When speaking of a state, we use people for the mass of the community, as distinguished from their rulers, and nation for the entire political body, including the rulers. In another sense of the term, nation describes those who are descended from the same stock; and in this sense the Germans regard themselves as one nation, though politically subject to different forms of government.

People

Peo"ple\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Peopled p. pr. & vb. n. Peopling.] [Cf. OF. popler, puepler, F. puepler. Cf. Populate.] To stock with people or inhabitants; to fill as with people; to populate. "Peopled heaven with angels." --Dryden.

As the gay motes that people the sunbeams. --Milton.

Language Translation for : People

Spanish: personas,

German: die Leute (pl.),

Japanese: 人々

More Translations »

people

c.1275, "humans, persons in general," from Anglo-Fr. people, O.Fr. peupel, from L. populus "people," of unknown origin, possibly from Etruscan. Replaced native folk. Meaning "body of persons comprising a community" first recorded 1292 in Anglo-Fr.; meaning "common people, masses" (as distinguished from the nobility) first recorded 1306 in Anglo-Fr. The verb is c.1489 (intrans.), c.1500 (trans.). The word was adopted after c.1920 by Communist totalitarian states to give a spurious sense of populism to their governments. Legal phrase The People vs., in U.S. cases of prosecution under certain laws, dates from 1801. People of the Book "those whose religion entails adherence to a book of divine revelation (1834) translates Arabic Ahl al-Kitab.

people

In addition to the idiom beginning with people, also see tell (people) apart.

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