people
Pluralpeoples
Pluralpeoples
Formspeoples, peopling, peopled
- 1Plural of person. Human beings, either a particular number of them or humans in general, and by extension other beings thought of as persons.
Thousands of people gathered in the square to hear the announcement.
Most people agreed that the new schedule was an improvement.
UsageTakes a plural verb: people are (not
incorrect: people is). One person, two people; persons is mainly used in formal writing, especially legal or technical contexts.Note
A plaque recording the Bristol Channel floods (c. 1607) shows the agreement once wavered: "XXII people was in this parrish drownd." When people itself needs a plural, it has moved to the "nation" meaning.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
- A surviving plaque records the Bristol Channel floods of 1607. netherwent.church
- The plaque contains the quoted wording, including XXII (22) people and singular was. livinglevels.org.uk
- People historically occurred with singular verb agreement. en.wiktionary.org
- 2A body of persons united by a common nation, culture, ethnicity, or other shared identity.
The treaty recognized them as a sovereign people with their own laws.
The exhibition celebrates the indigenous peoples of the northern coast.
UsageHere it takes a and an -s: a people, the peoples of Europe.
- 3The relatives, ancestors, or family that a person belongs to.
My people came from a small village high in the mountains.
He introduced her to his people at the holiday gathering.
UsageUsually with a possessive: my people, her people. My folks is a homelier way to say family.
Note
Kinship that can reach back across generations, as in "my people lived through the Black Plague." Like the "staff" meaning, it needs a possessive, so "my people" can mean family or employees, and only context decides between them. "His people live out west" is clearly kin.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
- The Black Plague refers to a real historical plague pandemic. The sentence is an illustrative example, with no attributed speaker or identified family. en.wikipedia.org
- 4The employees, followers, servants, or supporters who work for or under a particular person or leader.
Have your people contact mine to set up the meeting.
The director trusts her people to handle the smaller details.
UsageUsually with a possessive: my people, your people. I'll have my people call your people is often said jokingly.
Similarstaff, team, employees, assistants, followers
Note
Office English with a possessive built in: my people, your people, one of my people. The set phrase "I'll have my people call your people" is the formula of someone important enough to delegate every contact. Thrillers and comedies use it for characters with staff to command, from Vince Flynn's Transfer of Power (1999) to Fern Michaels's Hokus Pokus (2007).
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 5 facts
- The quoted formula is attested with this exact wording. govinfo.gov
- Transfer of Power is by Vince Flynn and was first published in 1999. en.wikipedia.org
- Transfer of Power uses 'my people' for personnel under someone's direction. en.wiktionary.org
- Hokus Pokus is by Fern Michaels and was first published in 2007. openlibrary.org
- Hokus Pokus uses 'my people' and 'your people' for personnel who handle contacts. en.wiktionary.org
- 5The general body of a community as distinct from a privileged or ruling class; the common populace.
The revolution promised to return power to the people.
For centuries the people labored while the nobility grew rich.
UsageUsually the people, with a plural verb: the people have spoken.
Similarpopulace, commoners, citizenry
Oppositeelite, aristocracy, nobility
Note
The political sense: the community set against its rulers. Dick Tuck's 1966 concession speech turned the solemn formula sour: "The people have spoken, the bastards."
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- Dick Tuck conceded electoral defeat in 1966. en.wikipedia.org
- Tuck's concession included the quoted words. en.wikipedia.org
Less common meanings
- 6To fill a place with inhabitants; to populate it.
The crown sought to people the frontier with loyal settlers.
Waves of immigrants peopled the empty valley within a single decade.
UsageUsually people a place with someone: they peopled the valley with settlers.
Similarpopulate, settle, colonize
Oppositedepopulate
Note
In Dryden's The State of Innocence and the Fall of Man (published 1677), God "peopled Heav'n with Angels, Earth with Man." It stretches easily from settlers to the mind: in Letitia Elizabeth Landon's Ethel Churchill (1837), forgotten scenes are "peopling his solitude."
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 6 facts
- John Dryden wrote The State of Innocence and the Fall of Man. jacklynch.net
- The work was first published in 1677. celm.folger.edu
- The quoted line describes God populating heaven and earth; Adam speaks it in Act II, scene 1. jacklynch.net
- Letitia Elizabeth Landon wrote Ethel Churchill. en.wikipedia.org
- Ethel Churchill was first published in 1837. en.wikisource.org
- The novel describes forgotten scenes as peopling Walter Maynard's solitude. en.wikisource.org
- 7To live in or occupy a place as its inhabitants; to inhabit it.
The characters who people her novels are drawn from her own small town.
Nomadic herders once peopled these high plateaus.
Similarinhabit, populate, occupy, fill
Note
The inhabitants are now the subject. In Milton's Il Penseroso, the motes that "people the Sun Beams" fill the light themselves. By contrast, the "populate" verb needs someone who puts the inhabitants there. The sense suits figurative crowds, such as specks, legends and memories, as readily as it suits settlers on a plateau.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 1 fact
- John Milton's Il Penseroso describes motes that "people the Sun Beams"; the motes are the grammatical subject. en.wikisource.org
- 8
- 9To interact socially with others; to socialize.
Some days I simply don't have the energy to people.
I don't people well.” He laughed at that. “You do okay,” he assured her.
2020, Teri Anne Stanley, Lucky Chance CowboyUsageMostly joking, often negative: I can't people today. In formal writing, use socialize.
Note
A playful conversion of the noun into a verb, nearly always used in the negative. The line "I don't people well" recurs from Jennifer L. Armentrout's The Darkest Star (2018) to Teri Anne Stanley's Lucky Chance Cowboy (2020). Speakers use it to own up to shyness or social fatigue with a wink.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 5 facts
- Jennifer L. Armentrout wrote The Darkest Star, first published in 2018. us.macmillan.com
- The Darkest Star was published in 2018. us.macmillan.com
- The quotation "I don't people well" occurs in The Darkest Star. en.wiktionary.org
- Teri Anne Stanley wrote Lucky Chance Cowboy, published in 2020. penguin.com.au
- The same quotation occurs in Lucky Chance Cowboy. en.wiktionary.org
Showing meanings only.
people is a form of person
person, noun: A human being regarded as an individual, of any gender. Full entry
- Spelling
- person → people: irregular plural (no -s)
Practice
Can you tell the meanings of people apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.
Origin
"People" comes from Middle English puple, borrowed through Anglo-Norman and Old French from Latin populus ("a people, nation"), which traces back through Old Latin to Proto-Italic *poplos ("army"), of unknown origin. It is a doublet of pueblo and gradually ousted the native English words lede and, in part, folk.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 5 facts
- People derives from Middle English puple through Anglo-Norman and Old French from Latin populus. en.wiktionary.org
- Latin populus means 'a people, nation'. en.wiktionary.org
- Latin populus derives through Old Latin from Proto-Italic *poplos ('army'), whose further origin is unknown. en.wiktionary.org
- People and pueblo are doublets. en.wiktionary.org
- People gradually displaced native English lede and partly displaced folk. en.wiktionary.org