n. pl. 1 persons, individuals, men and women, ladies and gentlemen, males and females, living souls; mortals; bodies How many people can this aeroplane carry? 2 relations, relatives, kin, kinsmen, kinsfolk or US and Canadian kinfolk, family, kith and kin; ancestors, forebears His people left Russia in 1917 3 masses, (general) public, hoi polloi, consumers, multitude, populace, common people, common man, commoners, subjects, citizenry, plebeians, grass roots, proletariat, rank and file, the crowd, commonalty or commonality, mobile vulgus, bourgeoisie; man or woman in the street, Everyman, Everywoman, Mr or Mrs Average, Brit A. n. Other, Joe Bloggs, man or woman on the Clapham omnibus, US John Doe, Mary Doe, Richard Roe, John Q. Public; Colloq and often derogatory proles, the rabble, ragtag and bobtail, silent majority, common herd, Brit plebs, admass Politicians unable to communicate with the people are seldom elected
n. sing. 4 race, community, clan, tribe, folk, nation, population, society On the subject of religion, they were a people divided The anthropologists were studying the peoples south of the Sahara.
v. 5 populate, colonize, settle, occupy The area was once peopled with Berber tribesmen