Main Entry: ¹peo·ple

Pronunciation: \ˈpē-pəl\

Function: noun

Inflected Form(s): plural people

Etymology: Middle English peple, from Anglo-French pople, peple, peuple, from Latin populus

Date: 13th century

1 plural : human beings making up a group or assembly or linked by a common interest
2 plural : human beings, persons —often used in compounds instead of persons <salespeople> —often used attributively <people skills>
3 plural : the members of a family or kinship
4 plural : the mass of a community as distinguished from a special class <disputes between the people and the nobles> —often used by Communists to distinguish Communists from other people
5 plural peoples : a body of persons that are united by a common culture, tradition, or sense of kinship, that typically have common language, institutions, and beliefs, and that often constitute a politically organized group
6 : lower animals usually of a specified kind or situation
7 : the body of enfranchised citizens of a state

— peo·ple·less \-pə(l)-ləs\ adjective