people

I. noun (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 <

salespeople

> — 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 • peopleless adjective II. transitive verb (peopled; peopling) Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French popler, poeplier, from pople Date: 15th century 1. to supply or fill with people 2. to dwell in ; inhabit