people

people - English

Alternative forms

peeps, peops (slang)
peple (obsolete)
pipple (pronunciation spelling)
ppl, ppl.

Pronunciation

(UK) IPA: /ˈpiːpəl/
(US) IPA: /ˈpipəl/, /ˈpipl̩/, [ˈpʰipɫ̩]
Hyphenation: peo‧ple
Homophone: papal (some dialects)

Noun

people (countable and uncountable, plural peoples)

Used as plural of person; a body of human beings considered generally or collectively; a group of two or more persons.
- Synonyms: (slang) peeps, lede, leod
- There were so many people at the restaurant last night.
(countable) Persons forming or belonging to a particular group, such as a nation, class, ethnic group, country, family, etc.
- Synonyms: collective, community, congregation, folk
A group of persons regarded as being employees, followers, companions or subjects of a ruler.
- Synonyms: fans, groupies, supporters
One's colleagues or employees.
A person's ancestors, relatives or family.
- Synonyms: kin, kith, folks
- My people lived through the Black Plague and the Thirty Years War.
The mass of a community as distinguished from a special class (elite); the commonalty; the populace; the vulgar; the common crowd; the citizens.
- Synonyms: populace, commoners, citizenry

Noun

people

plural of person.

Usage notes

When used to mean "persons" (meaning 1 above), "people" today takes a plural verb. However, in the past it could take a singular verb.
Nowadays, "persons" as the plural of "person" is considered highly formal. All major style guides recommend people rather than persons. For example, the Associated Press and the New York Times recommend "people" except in quotations and set phrases. Under the traditional distinction, which Garner says is pedantic, persons describes a finite, known number of individuals, rather than the collective term people. "Persons" is more used in technical and legal contexts.

Derived terms

Terms derived from people

Descendants

Jamaican Creole: piipl
Pijin: pipol
→ Sranan Tongo: pipel
→ Tok Pisin: pipel

Translations

Afrikaans: mense (af)
Albanian: njerëz, tëtanë (Gheg), lem, polem (sq)
Arabic: نَاس‎ pl (nās), خَلْق‎ (ar) m (ḵalq)
- Egyptian Arabic: ناس‎ m pl (nās)
- South Levantine Arabic: ناس‎ m pl (nās)
Aramaic: עם‎
Armenian: մարդիկ (hy) (mardik)
Aromanian: oaminj m pl, lumi f
Assamese: মানুহ (manuh), লোক (lük), ৰাইজ (raiz)
Asturian: xente (ast) f
Azerbaijani: xalq (az), el (az), budun
Baluchi: مہلوک‎ (mahlúk)
Belarusian: лю́дзі m pl (ljúdzi)
Breton: tud (br) pl
Bulgarian: хо́ра (bg) pl (hóra), лю́де m pl (ljúde)
Catalan: gent (ca) f
Chamicuro: klistyano
Cherokee: ᏴᏫ (yvwi)
Chinese:
- Cantonese: 人 (yue) (jan⁴)
- Dungan: жын (řɨn)
- Mandarin: 人們／人们 (zh) (rénmen), 人 (zh) (rén)
Czech: lid (cs) m, lidé (cs) pl
Dalmatian: ziant
Danish: folk (da) pl
Dolgan: киһилэр pl (kihiler), дьон (con)
Dutch: mensen (nl) pl, lui (nl) pl, volk (nl) n, personen (nl) pl
Emilian: ginta f, gint f, żänt f, persòuni f pl
Esperanto: homoj (eo)
Estonian: inimesed (et) pl
Faroese: tjóð f, fólk n
Fijian: kai
Finnish: väki (fi), ihmiset (fi) pl
French: gens (fr) pl
- Middle French: gens
- Old French: gent f
Friulian: int f
Fula: yimɓe
Galician: xente (gl) f
Georgian: ხალხი (xalxi)
German: Leute (de) pl, Menschen m pl
- Alemannic German: Lüüte pl
Greek: κόσμος (el) m (kósmos), άνθρωποι (el) m pl (ánthropoi)
- Ancient: λαός m (laós)
Hawaiian: poʻe
Hebrew: אֲנָשִׁים‎ m pl (anashim)
Hindi: लोग (hi) (log), जनता (hi) f (jantā)
Hungarian: emberek (hu)
Hutterisch: Leid pl
Icelandic: fólk (is) n
Interlingua: personas pl, gente
Irish: daoine (ga) pl, lucht m
Istriot: zento m
Italian: gente (it) f
Jamaican Creole: piipl
Japanese: 人々 (ja) (ひとびと, hitobito), 人達 (ひとたち, hitotachi), 人 (ja) (ひと, hito)
Jarawa: əŋ
Javanese: wong, tiyang
Kambaata: manna
Kashaya: nohpʰo
Kashmiri: لوٗکھ‎ (ks) m pl (lūkh), لُکھ‎ (ks) m pl (lukh)
Kazakh: халық (kk) (xalyq), адамдар pl (adamdar)
Khmer: មនុស្ស (km) (mɔnuh)
Kom (Cameroon): ghelɨ
Kongo: bantu
Korean: 사람들 (saramdeul), 사람 (ko) (saram)
Kumyk: эл (el)
Kurdish:
- Central Kurdish: خەڵک‎ (xellk)
- Northern Kurdish: gel (ku), xelk (ku) m, mirov (ku) m
Kyrgyz: кишилер (ky) pl (kişiler)
Laboya: ata
Lao: ປະຊາຊົນ (pa sā son)
Latgalian: ļauds
Latin: populus (la) m, gēns (la) f
Latvian: cilvēki pl, ļaudis f
Lithuanian: žmonės (lt) m pl
Macedonian: луѓе pl (luǵe)
Malagasy: olona (mg)
Malay: orang (ms)
Maltese: nies pl
Manchu: ᡠᡵᠰᡝ (urse), ᡳᡵᡤᡝᠨ (irgen)
Mandailing Batak: halak
Manx: pobble
Maori: tangata (mi)
Middle English: peple, folk
Minangkabau: urang (min)
Mongolian:
- Cyrillic: ард (mn) (ard), хүмүүс (mn) (xümüüs)
Nanai: гурун
Northern Sami: veahka
Norwegian:
- Bokmål: folk (no) pl, lyd (no) m, mennesker (no) n pl
Occitan: gent (oc) f
Old Church Slavonic:
- Cyrillic: людиє m pl (ljudie)
Old East Slavic: люди pl (ljudi)
Old English: menn m pl
Old Occitan: gentz
Oromo: uummaata
Persian: مَردُم‎ (fa) (mardom)
Phoenician: 𐤍𐤐𐤔‎ (npš)
Polish: ludzie (pl) pl
Portuguese: pessoas (pt) f pl, gente (pt) f
Punjabi: ਲੋਕ (lok)
Romanian: oameni (ro) m pl, lume (ro) f
Russian: лю́ди (ru) m pl (ljúdi), (dated) люд (ru) m (ljud)
Sanskrit: जन (sa) m (jana)
Sardinian: gente, genti, tzente, zente
Scots: fowk
Serbo-Croatian:
- Cyrillic: љу̑ди m pl
- Roman: ljȗdi (sh) m pl
Sicilian: genti (scn)
Sidamo: manna
Slovak: ľudia (sk) m pl, ľud m
Slovene: ljudje m pl
Somali: dad (so)
Spanish: gente (es) f
Swedish: folk (sv) n
Tajik: мардум (tg) (mardum)
Taos: t’óyna
Telugu: ప్రజలు (te) (prajalu), జనం (te) (janaṁ)
Tetum: ema
Thai: คน (th) (kon), ผู้ (th) (pûu), บุคคล (th) (bùk-kon)
Turkish: halk (tr), millet (tr), insanlar (tr)
Turkmen: halk, il, iil
Tuvan: улус (ulus), чон (çon)
Uab Meto: atoni
Ukrainian: лю́ди (uk) f pl (ljúdy)
Urdu: لوگ‎ pl (log)
Uzbek: odamlar (uz)
Venetian: dente, xente, zente
Vietnamese: người (vi)
Volapük: mens
Walloon: djins (wa) f pl
Welsh: pobl (cy)
West Frisian: folk, lju
Wolof: nit (wo)
Yakut: дьон (jon)
Zazaki: helq, sar (diq) c
Zulu: abantu

Afrikaans: volk (af)
Albanian: popull (sq) m
Amharic: ህዝብ (həzb)
Arabic: خَلْق‎ (ar) m (ḵalq), شَعْب‎ (ar) m (šaʕb), قَوْم‎ m (qawm)
Aramaic:
- Western/Levantine Aramaic: עַמָּא‎ m (ʿammā), עם‎ m (ʿam)
Armenian: ժողովուրդ (hy) (žołovurd)
Aromanian: popul, gintã f, ghimtã, mileti, yenos, poplu
Asturian: pueblu (ast) m
Avar: халкъ (xalqxʼ)
Azerbaijani: xalq (az), el (az), əhl
Bashkir: халыҡ (xalıq)
Belarusian: наро́д (be) m (naród), на́цыя (be) f (nácyja)
Bengali: জনগণ (bn) (jongon)
Bulgarian: наро́д (bg) m (naród), на́ция (bg) f (nácija)
Burmese: ပြည်သူပြည်သား (my) (pranysu-pranysa:)
Buryat: зон (zon)
Catalan: poble (ca) m
Chechen: халкъ (xalqʼ)
Cherokee: ᏴᏫ (yvwi)
Chinese:
- Dungan: жынмин (řɨnmin), минзў (minzw), минжын (minřɨn)
- Mandarin: 國民／国民 (zh) (guómín), 民族 (zh) (mínzú), 人民 (zh) (rénmín)
Chuvash: халӑх (halăh)
Crimean Tatar: halk
Czech: lid (cs) m, lidé (cs) pl, národ (cs) m
Danish: folk (da) n
Dolgan: дьон
Dutch: volk (nl) n, bevoling
Eastern Mari: калык (kalyk)
Esperanto: popolo (eo)
Estonian: rahvas (et)
Extremaduran: puebru
Faroese: tjóð f
Finnish: kansa (fi), väestö (fi)
French: peuple (fr) m
Friulian: popul m
Galician: pobo (gl) m
Georgian: ხალხი (xalxi)
German: Volk (de) n
Gothic: 𐌸𐌹𐌿𐌳𐌰 f (þiuda), 𐌺𐌽𐍉𐌸𐍃 f (knōþs)
Greek: λαός (el) m (laós), κόσμος (el) m (kósmos), έθνος (el) n (éthnos)
- Ancient: ἔθνος n (éthnos), δῆμος m (dêmos)
Greenlandic: inuiaat
Haitian Creole: pèp
Hani: sseiqmiq
Hebrew: עַם‎ (he) m (am), אומה \ אֻמָּה‎ (he) f ('umá)
Hindi: समाज (hi) m (samāj), लोग (hi) m (log)
Hungarian: nép (hu)
Icelandic: þjóð (is) f, fólk (is) n
Ido: populo (io)
Indonesian: rakyat (id), masyarakat (id), orang (id), orang-orang (id)
Irish: pobal m, lucht m
Istriot: puopulo m
Italian: popolo (it) m, nazione (it) f
Japanese: 国民 (ja) (こくみん, kokumin), 民族 (ja) (みんぞく, minzoku), 人民 (ja) (じんみん, jinmin)
Kannada: ಜನರು (kn) (janaru)
Kashubian: nôród m, lud m
Kazakh: халық (kk) (xalyq), ұлт (kk) (ūlt)
Khmer: ប្រជាជន (prɑciə cŭən), ពលរដ្ឋ (km) (pŭəllĕəʼrŏət), ប្រជាជាតិ (km) (prɑciə ciət)
Korean: 국민(國民) (ko) (gungmin), 민족(民族) (ko) (minjok), 인민(人民) (ko) (inmin)
Kurdish:
- Central Kurdish: گەل‎ (ckb) (gel), ملەت‎ (mlet)
- Northern Kurdish: gel (ku), xelk (ku), alem (ku)
Kyrgyz: кишилер (ky) pl (kişiler), калк (ky) (kalk), эл (ky) (el)
Lao: ຄົນ (lo) (khon), ປະຊາຊົນ (pa sā son)
Latin: gens (la) f, populus (la) m
Latvian: tauta f, ļaudis pl
Lithuanian: tauta (lt) f, liaudis (lt) f
Macedonian: народ m (narod)
Malay: orang-orang
Maltese: poplu m
Manchu: ᡤᡠᡵᡠᠨ (gurun)
Maori: tangata (mi)
Mazanderani: بهنهوار‎ (benevár)
Middle English: peple, folk
Mongolian:
- Cyrillic: ард (mn) (ard)
Navajo: diné
Ngazidja Comorian: kaumu
North Frisian: följk
Northern Sami: álbmot
Norwegian:
- Bokmål: folk (no) n
Occitan: pòble (oc) m
Old Church Slavonic:
- Cyrillic: людъ m pl (ljudŭ), народъ m (narodŭ)
Old East Slavic: народъ m (narodŭ)
Old English: folc n
Old Occitan: poble
Pashto: خلک‎ (ps) m pl (xálək), خلګ‎ m pl (xaləg)
Persian: مَردُم‎ (fa) (mardom), خلق‎ (fa) (xalq) (archaic)
Plautdietsch: Volkj (nds) n
Polish: naród (pl) m, lud (pl) m
Portuguese: povo (pt) m
Punjabi: ਲੋਕ (lok)
Romanian: popor (ro) n, neam (ro) n, națiune (ro) f
Romansch: pievel m, pövel m
Russian: наро́д (ru) m (naród), на́ция (ru) f (nácija)
Rusyn: наро́д m (naród)
Sardinian: pobulu, poburu, populu
Scots: fowk
Serbo-Croatian:
- Cyrillic: на́род m
- Roman: národ (sh) m
Slovak: národ (sk) m, ľud m
Slovene: narod (sl) m
Sorbian:
- Lower Sorbian: lud m
- Upper Sorbian: lud m
Spanish: pueblo (es) m
Swedish: folk (sv) n, folkslag (sv) n
Tabasaran: халкъ (ꭓalq̄)
Tajik: мардум (tg) (mardum), халқ (tg) (xalq)
Tamil: மக்கள் (ta) (makkaḷ)
Tatar: халык (tt) (xalıq), кешеләр (keşelär)
Telugu: ప్రజలు (te) (prajalu)
Thai: คน (th) (kon), ประชาชน (th) (bprà-chaa-chon)
Tibetan: མི་དམངས (mi dmangs)
Turkish: halk (tr)
Turkmen: halk, il
Tuvan: улус (ulus), чон (çon)
Ukrainian: наро́д (uk) m (naród), на́ція (uk) f (nácija)
Uyghur: خەلق‎ (xelq)
Uzbek: halq (uz), ahl (uz)
Venetian: popoło m
Vietnamese: nhân dân (vi) (人民), dân tộc (vi) (民族 (vi))
Walloon: peupe (wa)
Welsh: pobl (cy) m
Yakut: дьон (jon)
Yiddish: פֿאָלק‎ n (folk)
Zazaki: helq, sar (diq) c, mılet (diq) c
Zhuang: yinzminz

Afrikaans: mense (af)
Danish: folk (da) n
Dutch: mensen (nl) pl, volk (nl) n
Esperanto: popolo (eo)
Finnish: väki (fi), henkilökunta (fi)
French: équipe (fr) f
Galician: persoal m
German: Leute (de) pl, Volk (de) n
Japanese: 人々 (ja) (ひとびと, hitobito), 臣民 (ja) (しんみん, shinmin)
Korean: 사람들 (saramdeul), 신하(臣下) (ko) (sinha), 백성(百姓) (ko) (baekseong)
Latin: populus (la) m
Manchu: ᡳᡵᡤᡝᠨ (irgen)
Middle English: peple, folk
Mongolian:
- Cyrillic: иргэн (mn) (irgen)
- Mongolian: ᠢᠷᠭᠡᠨ (irgen)
Ngazidja Comorian: kaumu class 9
Northern Sami: veahka
Norwegian:
- Bokmål: folk (no) n
Old English: menn m pl
Polish: ludzie (pl) pl, naród (pl) m
Portuguese: pessoal (pt) m
Swedish: folk (sv) n
Thai: บุคลากร (th) (bùkkálaagon)
Vietnamese: dân (vi) (not employees), nhân viên (vi) (employees)
Walloon: peupe (wa) m, djins (wa) f pl
Zazaki: teni

Afrikaans: familie (af)
Arabic: أَهْل‎ m (ʔahl)
Bulgarian: род (bg) m (rod), семе́йство (bg) n (seméjstvo), ли́ния (bg) f (línija)
Catalan: família (ca) f, els meus
Danish: slægt c
Dutch: familie (nl) f, verwanten (nl) pl
Esperanto: gento
Finnish: suku (fi), sukulaiset (fi)
French: les miens (fr) m pl
Galician: aboenza f, tronquidade f, fruxe f, familia (gl) f
German: Familie (de) f, Verwandten (de) pl, Angehörigen (de) pl
Greek: σόι (el) n (sói), δικοί του m pl (dikoí tou)
Italian: famiglia (it) f
Japanese: 家族 (ja) (かぞく, kazoku), 両親 (ja) (りょうしん, ryōshin), 親類 (ja) (しんるい, shinrui), 先祖 (ja) (せんぞ, senzo)
Korean: 가족(家族) (ko) (gajok), 양친 (ko) (yangchin), 근친자 (geunchinja), 선조 (ko) (seonjo)
Kurdish:
- Central Kurdish: باو باپیران‎ (baw bapîran)
Latin: familia (la), gens (la)
Lithuanian: giminė (lt) f, šeima (lt) f
Middle English: folk
Navajo: shikʼéí
Norwegian:
- Bokmål: slekt m
Persian: خویشان‎ (fa) pl (xišân)
Polish: ogół (pl) m
Portuguese: família (pt) f
Russian: родня́ (ru) f (rodnjá) (colloquial)
Serbo-Croatian:
- Cyrillic: оби́тељ f, по̀родица f
- Roman: obítelj (sh) f, pòrodica (sh) f
Slovene: družina (sl) f
Spanish: familia (es) f
Swedish: släkt (sv) c, anhörig (sv) c
Taos: t’óyna
Vietnamese: gia đình (vi)
Zazaki: kuflet m

Afrikaans: volk (af)
Alutor: ʡujamtawilʔ
Arabic: شَعْب‎ (ar) (šaʕb)
Armenian: ժողովուրդ (hy) (žołovurd)
Catalan: poble (ca) m
Czech: lid (cs) m, lidé (cs) pl
Dutch: volk (nl) n, massa (nl) f
Egyptian: (rḫyt f)
Esperanto: popolo (eo)
Finnish: kansa (fi)
French: peuple (fr) m
Galician: cuxia f, pobo (gl) m
German: Volk (de) n
Greek: μάζες (el) f pl (mázes), λαός (el) m (laós)
Hawaiian: kānaka
Ido: populo (io)
Italian: popolo (it) m, popolazione (it) f
Japanese: 平民 (ja) (へいみん, heimin), 庶民 (ja) (しょみん, shomin)
Kashmiri: لوٗکھ‎ (ks) m (lūkh), لُکھ‎ (ks) m (lukh)
Korean: 평민(平民) (ko) (pyeongmin), 서민(庶民) (ko) (seomin)
Latin: populus (la) m
Lithuanian: liaudis (lt) f
Malay: rakyat (ms)
Manchu: ᠨᡳᠶ᠋ᠠᠯᠮᠠᡳᡵᡤᡝᠨ (niyalma irgen)
Middle English: peple
Northern Sami: álbmot
Norwegian:
- Bokmål: folk (no) n
Old English: folc n
Polish: lud (pl) m
Portuguese: povo (pt) m
Romanian: popor (ro)
Russian: наро́д (ru) m (naród), люд (ru) m (ljud)
Slovak: ľud m
Spanish: pueblo (es) m
Swedish: folk (sv) n (most commonly in definite form folket (sv))
Tagalog: bayan (tl)
Taos: t’óyna
Tuvan: арат (arat)
Written Oirat: ᠠᠷᠠᡑ (arad), ᠠᠷᠠᡑᡐᡉᡏᡄᠨ (arad tümen), ᠠᠷᠠᡑᡆᠯᡆᠨ (arad olon)
Yakut: норуот (noruot)
Zazaki: qafile c

Verb

people (third-person singular simple present peoples, present participle peopling, simple past and past participle peopled)

(transitive) To stock with people or inhabitants; to fill as with people; to populate.
(intransitive) To become populous or populated.
(transitive) To inhabit; to occupy; to populate.
(rare, informal) To interact with people; to socialize.

Usage notes

The informal interaction sense is chiefly used in the negative.

Derived terms

peopler

Translations

Bulgarian: населвам (naselvam), населя (naselja)
Catalan: poblar (ca)
Dutch: bevolken (nl)
Finnish: asuttaa (fi)
French: peupler (fr)
German: bevölkern (de)
Hungarian: benépesít (hu)
Italian: popolare con
Macedonian: населува (naseluva)
Norwegian:
- Bokmål: befolke
Portuguese: povoar (pt)
Romanian: popula (ro)
Russian: населя́ть (ru) (naseljátʹ)
Slovene: naseliti
Spanish: poblar con
Swedish: befolka (sv)
Ukrainian: населя́ти impf (naseljáty), насели́ти pf (naselýty), заселя́ти impf (zaseljáty), засели́ти pf (zaselýty)

Catalan: poblar-se
Dutch: bevolkt worden (literally “become populated”)
Finnish: lisääntyä (fi)
French: se peupler (fr)
Hungarian: benépesül, benépesedik
Norwegian:
- Bokmål: befolkes (passive form)
Portuguese: povoar-se
Spanish: poblarse (es)
Swedish: befolkas (sv)

Bulgarian: обитавам (bg) (obitavam), живея (bg) (živeja), населявам (bg) (naseljavam)
Dutch: bevolken (nl), bewonen (nl)
Esperanto: enloĝi
Finnish: asua (fi)
French: peupler (fr)
German: bewohnen (de), besiedeln (de), bevölkern (de)
Hungarian: lakik (hu), belakik (hu)
Norwegian:
- Bokmål: befolke
Portuguese: povoar (pt)
Spanish: poblar (es)
Swedish: befolka (sv)
Ukrainian: населя́ти impf (naseljáty)

Anagrams

Peploe

people - French

Alternative forms

pipole

Pronunciation

IPA: /pi.pɔl/, /pi.pœl/

Noun

people m or f by sense (plural people)

(countable) a celebrity, celebrities, famous person(s)
- Synonyms: célébrité, personne connue, personnalité, personnage public

Usage notes

The French noun people is frequently italicized as a loanword, as in the quotations above.

Derived terms

pipolisation

Noun

people m (uncountable)

(uncountable) showbusiness, popular media that feature stories on celebrities and famous people (as represented by magazines such as People, (UK) Hello!, (France) Paris Match)

people - Middle English

Noun

people

Alternative form of peple

people - Old French

Noun

people m (oblique plural peoples, nominative singular peoples, nominative plural people)

(Anglo-Norman) Alternative form of pueple