n.
Pronunciation: ' p ē -p ə l
Function: noun
Inflected Form: 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 <sales people > ― 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 \ -p ə (l)-l ə s \ adjective