PEOPLE
people
(noun) (plural) any group of human beings (men or women or children) collectively; “old people”; “there were at least 200 people in the audience”
people
(noun) members of a family line; “his people have been farmers for generations”; “are your people still alive?”
citizenry, people
(noun) the body of citizens of a state or country; “the Spanish people”
multitude, masses, mass, hoi polloi, people, the great unwashed
(noun) the common people generally; “separate the warriors from the mass”; “power to the people”
people
(verb) fill with people; “Stalin wanted to people the empty steppes”
people
(verb) furnish with people; “The plains are sparsely populated”
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Noun
people (countable and uncountable, plural peoples)
Used as plural of person; a body of human beings considered generally or collectively; a group of two or more persons.
Synonyms: peeps (slang), lede, leod
(countable) Persons forming or belonging to a particular group, such as a nation, class, ethnic group, country, family, etc.
Synonyms: collective, community, congregation, folk
A group of persons regarded as being employees, followers, companions or subjects of a ruler.
Synonyms: fans, groupies, supporters
One's colleagues or employees.
A person's ancestors, relatives or family.
Synonyms: kin, kith, folks
The mass of a community as distinguished from a special class (elite); the commonalty; the populace; the vulgar; the common crowd; the citizens.
Synonyms: populace, commoners, citizenry
people
plural of person.
Usage notes
• When used to mean "persons" (meaning 1 above), "people" today takes a plural verb. However, in the past it could take a singular verb.
• Nowadays, "persons" as the plural of "person" is considered highly formal.
Verb
people (third-person singular simple present peoples, present participle peopling, simple past and past participle peopled)
(transitive) To stock with people or inhabitants; to fill as with people; to populate.
(intransitive) To become populous or populated.
(transitive) To inhabit; to occupy; to populate.
(rare, informal) To interact with people; to socialize.
Usage notes
• The informal interaction sense is chiefly used in the negative.
Anagrams
• Peploe
Source: Wiktionary
Peo"ple, n. Etym: [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. 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.
Peo"ple, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Peopled p. pr. & vb. n. Peopling (.]
Etym: [Cf. OF. popler, puepler, F. puepler. Cf. Populate.]
Definition: 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
.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition