peoplehood
noun
peo·ple·hood
ˈpē-pəl-ˌhu̇d 
1
: the quality or state of constituting a people
2
: the awareness of the underlying unity that makes the individual a part of a people
Examples of peoplehood in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Mauritius’s motive is not about peoplehood but about power: A Mauritian sovereignty over the Chagos will yield more income and influence than Mauritius would on its own.
—
David Frum, The Atlantic, 2 Mar. 2026
Still, some powerful feeling of peoplehood, of a commandment being violated, swept over me.
—Nicholas Lemann, New Yorker, 21 Feb. 2026
Through addiction, recovery, infertility, and, urgently, a search for both selfhood and peoplehood, and towards home.
—Eliana Ramage
september 4, Literary Hub, 4 Sep. 2025
The pogroms against Jews in Eastern Europe and other developments, including the 1967 War, moved Reform Jews to strongly emphasize the need to defend Israel as essential to Jewish peoplehood and self-determination.
—Michelle Boorstein, Washington Post, 17 Dec. 2023
There are five main injuries of slavery that still affect the Black community today including peoplehood and nationhood; education; health; criminal punishment; and wealth and poverty, according to NCOBRA.
—Maya Brown, CNN, 26 Feb. 2022
Others, including many anti-Zionists, refuse to recognize Judaism’s peoplehood dimension altogether, saying Jews should be regarded strictly as members of a religion.
—Cnaan Liphshiz, sun-sentinel.com, 3 Mar. 2021
Secular American Jews, however, have always walked a fine line in their sense of peoplehood.
—Ethan Bronner, The New York Review of Books, 12 Mar. 2020
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David Frum, The Atlantic, 2 Mar. 2026
Still, some powerful feeling of peoplehood, of a commandment being violated, swept over me.
—Nicholas Lemann, New Yorker, 21 Feb. 2026
Through addiction, recovery, infertility, and, urgently, a search for both selfhood and peoplehood, and towards home.
—Eliana Ramage
september 4, Literary Hub, 4 Sep. 2025
The pogroms against Jews in Eastern Europe and other developments, including the 1967 War, moved Reform Jews to strongly emphasize the need to defend Israel as essential to Jewish peoplehood and self-determination.
—Michelle Boorstein, Washington Post, 17 Dec. 2023
There are five main injuries of slavery that still affect the Black community today including peoplehood and nationhood; education; health; criminal punishment; and wealth and poverty, according to NCOBRA.
—Maya Brown, CNN, 26 Feb. 2022
Others, including many anti-Zionists, refuse to recognize Judaism’s peoplehood dimension altogether, saying Jews should be regarded strictly as members of a religion.
—Cnaan Liphshiz, sun-sentinel.com, 3 Mar. 2021
Secular American Jews, however, have always walked a fine line in their sense of peoplehood.
—Ethan Bronner, The New York Review of Books, 12 Mar. 2020
Cite this Entry
“Peoplehood.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/peoplehood. Accessed 24 Mar. 2026.
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