Library / English Dictionary

PEOPLE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

(plural) any group of human beings (men or women or children) collectively

Example:

there were at least 200 people in the audience

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Hypernyms ("people" is a kind of...):

group; grouping (any number of entities (members) considered as a unit)

Meronyms (members of "people"):

individual; mortal; person; somebody; someone; soul (a human being)

Domain usage:

plural; plural form (the form of a word that is used to denote more than one)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "people"):

developmentally challenged; mentally retarded; retarded (people collectively who are mentally retarded)

network army (a group of like-minded people united by the internet; a new kind of social or political of business group that may exert broad influence on a shared concern)

nationality (people having common origins or traditions and often comprising a nation)

peanut gallery ((figurative) people whose criticisms are regarded as irrelevant or insignificant (resembling uneducated people who throw peanuts on the stage to express displeasure with a performance))

pocket (a small isolated group of people)

retreated (people who have retreated)

sick (people who are sick)

tradespeople (people engaged in trade)

maimed; wounded (people who are wounded)

migration (a group of people migrating together (especially in some given time period))

class; social class; socio-economic class; stratum (people having the same social, economic, or educational status)

country; land; nation (the people who live in a nation or country)

poor; poor people (people without possessions or wealth (considered as a group))

rich; rich people (people who have possessions and wealth (considered as a group))

populace; public; world (people in general considered as a whole)

population (the people who inhabit a territory or state)

coevals; contemporaries; generation (all the people living at the same time or of approximately the same age)

lobby (the people who support some common cause or business or principle or sectional interest)

business; clientele; patronage (customers collectively)

rank and file (people who constitute the main body of any group)

smart money (people who are highly experienced or who have inside information)

unconfessed (people who have not confessed)

unemployed; unemployed people (people who are involuntarily out of work (considered as a group))

womankind (women as distinguished from men)

chosen people (any people believing themselves to be chosen by God)

Slavic people (group of people speaking a Slavonic language)

peoples (the human beings of a particular nation or community or ethnic group)

age bracket; age group; cohort (a group of people having approximately the same age)

ancients (people who lived in times long past (especially during the historical period before the fall of the Roman Empire in western Europe))

baffled (people who are frustrated and perplexed)

blind (people who have severe visual impairments, considered as a group)

blood (people viewed as members of a group)

brave (people who are brave)

cautious; timid (people who are fearful and cautious)

business people; businesspeople (people who transact business (especially business executives))

community (a group of people having a religion, ethnic, profession, or other particular characteristic in common)

damned (people who are condemned to eternal punishment)

dead (people who are no longer living)

living (people who are still living)

deaf (people who have severe hearing impairments)

defeated; discomfited (people who are defeated)

disabled; handicapped (people collectively who are crippled or otherwise physically handicapped)

doomed; lost (people who are destined to die soon)

enemy (any hostile group of people)

episcopacy; episcopate (the collective body of bishops)

common people; folk; folks (people in general (often used in the plural))

free; free people (people who are free)

homebound (people who are confined to their homes)

enlightened; initiate (people who have been introduced to the mysteries of some field or activity)

uninitiate (people who have not been introduced to the mysteries of some field or activity)

Holonyms ("people" is a member of...):

human beings; human race; humanity; humankind; humans; man; mankind; world (all of the living human inhabitants of the earth)

Derivation:

people (fill with people)

people (furnish with people)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Members of a family line

Example:

are your people still alive?

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Hypernyms ("people" is a kind of...):

family; family line; folk; kinfolk; kinsfolk; phratry; sept (people descended from a common ancestor)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The body of citizens of a state or country

Example:

the Spanish people

Synonyms:

citizenry; people

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Hypernyms ("people" is a kind of...):

group; grouping (any number of entities (members) considered as a unit)

Meronyms (members of "people"):

citizen (a native or naturalized member of a state or other political community)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "people"):

country people; countryfolk (people living in the same country; compatriots)

Achaean; Arcado-Cyprians (the ancient Greek inhabitants of Achaea)

Aeolian (the ancient Greek inhabitants of Aeolia)

Dorian (the ancient Greek inhabitants of Doris who entered Greece from the north about 1100 BC)

Ionian (the ancient Greek inhabitants of Attica and related regions in Ionia)

electorate (the body of enfranchised citizens; those qualified to vote)

governed (the body of people who are citizens of a particular government)

Derivation:

people (fill with people)

people (furnish with people)

Sense 4

Meaning:

The common people generally

Example:

power to the people

Synonyms:

hoi polloi; mass; masses; multitude; people; the great unwashed

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Hypernyms ("people" is a kind of...):

group; grouping (any number of entities (members) considered as a unit)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "people"):

laity; temporalty (in Christianity, members of a religious community that do not have the priestly responsibilities of ordained clergy)

audience (the part of the general public interested in a source of information or entertainment)

followers; following (a group of followers or enthusiasts)

Derivation:

people (fill with people)

people (furnish with people)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Fill with people

Example:

Stalin wanted to people the empty steppes

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "people" is one way to...):

populate (fill with inhabitants)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Derivation:

people ((plural) any group of human beings (men or women or children) collectively)

people (the body of citizens of a state or country)

people (the common people generally)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Furnish with people

Example:

The plains are sparsely populated

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Hypernyms (to "people" is one way to...):

dwell; inhabit; live; populate (be an inhabitant of or reside in)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

people ((plural) any group of human beings (men or women or children) collectively)

people (the body of citizens of a state or country)

people (the common people generally)

Credits

 Context examples: 

Watch November 12 when Mars, based in your house of other people’s money, will receive golden beams form Jupiter, currently in your tenth house of prestigious professional career honors.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

However, some people have more memory problems than other people their age.

(Mild Cognitive Impairment, NIH: National Institute on Aging)

His stories were what frightened people worst of all.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Then let us walk about and quiz people.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

As I was occupied in fixing the boat and arranging the sails, several people crowded towards the spot.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

People with Aldrich syndrome are at increased risk of developing leukemia and lymphoma.

(Aldrich syndrome, NCI Dictionary)

"Because of the lying and very miserable white people," Zilla proclaimed shrilly.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

She very soon discovered that there is a charm about fine clothes which attracts a certain class of people and secures their respect.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Antimicrobial resistance has become a major threat to public health globally with approximately 700,000 people a year dying from antimicrobial-resistant infections.

(Toothpaste and Hand Wash Are Causing Antibiotic Resistance, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

If people are so silly as to indulge the sentiment, is it my fault?

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)