[pee-puh
l] 
noun, plural -ples for 4, verb, -pled, -pling.| 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. |
| 12. | to furnish with people; populate. |
| 13. | to supply or stock as if with people: a meadow peopled with flowers. |
[pur-suhn] | 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. |
| 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. |
| peo·ple (pē'pəl) n. pl. people
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. |
An inflectional form (see inflection) of pronouns and verbs that distinguishes between the person who speaks (first person), the person who is spoken to (second person), and the person who is spoken about (third person). The pronoun or verb may be singular or plural. For example:
first person singular: I walk.
second person singular: you walk.
third person singular: he/she/it walks.
first person plural: we walk.
second person plural: you walk.
third person plural: they walk.
person per·son (pûr'sən)
n.
A living human.
The composite of characteristics that make up an individual personality; the self.
The living body of a human.
Physique and general appearance.
people
In addition to the idiom beginning with people, also see tell (people) apart.