people

¹peo·ple

noun \ˈpē-pəl\

plural people

Definition of PEOPLE

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

Examples of PEOPLE

1. People can be really cruel sometimes.
2. People think the coach should be fired.
3. She tends to annoy people.
4. People say it's impossible, but I'm still going to try.
5. a book for young people
6. a people who migrated across the Bering Strait
7. the native peoples of Mexico

Origin of PEOPLE

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

First Known Use: 13th century

Other Anthropology Terms

ectomorph, ethnography, prehistory, yurt

Rhymes with PEOPLE

steeple