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English (US)
Cambridge Dictionary Online

Meaning of people in English

people
noun [ plural ]
us
/ˈpiː.pəl/ uk
/ˈpiː.pəl/
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A1
men, women, and children:
Many people never do any exercise.
We've invited 30 people to our party.
used to refer to everyone, or informally to the group that you are speaking to:
People will think you've gone nuts.
People like to be made to feel important.
Now that we've discussed our problems, are people happy with the decisions we've made?
men and women who are involved in a particular type of work:
We'll have to get the people at the city council to look at these plans.
Most of her friends are media people.
the people
C1
the large number of ordinary men and women who do not have positions of power in society:
She claims to be the voice of the people.
The president has lost the support of the people.
the people's Princess
someone's people informal
the people someone is related to:
Her people come from Scotland originally.
I prefer to live with my people.
His people have been in the fishing industry for generations.
Where do your people come from originally?
We married and I moved to live with her people.
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SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
People in general
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Grammar

Man, mankind or people?
Traditionally, we use man to refer to all human beings, male and female, usually in contrast with other animals. However, many people consider this to be sexist, so it is better to use a different expression, such as human beings: …
Person, persons or people?
We use person in the singular to refer to any human being: …

Idioms

man/woman of the people
of all people
people
noun [ C ]
us
/ˈpiː.pəl/ uk
/ˈpiː.pəl/
all the men, women, and children who live in a particular country, or who have the same culture or language:
The French are known as a food-loving people.
a society:
Customs similar to this one are found among many peoples of the world.
SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
Countries, nationalities & continents: country & nation
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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Grammar

Man, mankind or people?
Traditionally, we use man to refer to all human beings, male and female, usually in contrast with other animals. However, many people consider this to be sexist, so it is better to use a different expression, such as human beings: …
Person, persons or people?
We use person in the singular to refer to any human being: …
(Definition of people from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

people | Intermediate English

people
plural noun
us
/ˈpi·pəl/

people plural noun (PERSONS)

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men, women, and children generally; pl ofperson:
There were a lot of people there.
Some people were hurt.
People can refer to a particular group mentioned:
young/old people
poor/rich people
Those people look as if they’re lost.
When you say the people, you mean the large number of ordinary men and women who do not have positions of power:
The president wanted to take his message directly to the people.
Note:
  • See the usage note at person.
people
noun [ C ]
us
/ˈpi·pəl/

people noun [C] (NATION)

a culture or nation:
It is a custom shared by many Native American peoples.
people
verb [ T ]
us
/ˈpi·pəl/

people verb [T] (PERSONS)

If a place is peopled by a particular type of people, they have moved there or live there:
Honolulu is peopled by native Hawaiians, Japanese, Chinese, Filipinos, white Americans, and others.
(Definition of people from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

people | Business English

people
noun [ plural ]
uk
/ˈpiːpl/ us
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HR
the people who work for a particular organization or person:
Firms need to keep investing both in infrastructure and their people.
Your people can talk to my people about percentages.
(Definition of people from the Cambridge Business English Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of people

people
When it comes down to the people who read the spoilers, it's a really small percentage.
From USA TODAY
People should be prepared that both pieces are really shattering.
From cleveland.com
People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked.
From Chicago Daily Herald
But most people are coming in for home protection.
From NJ.com
That's what people are going to see, is the rebound and the 3.
From ESPN
He didn't say one of two people still running.
From cleveland.com
He's one of the people who can do things.
From Los Angeles Times
But these people are in it for profit.
From WIRED
When people see themselves as self-made, they tend to be less generous and public-spirited.
From The Atlantic
Potential is one of those curses many people carry with them in life, and so it was for me.
From Huffington Post
You have a force of 30,000 or so people.
From Washington Post
But would the same thing work in people?
From The Atlantic
A prolonged period of uncertainty would force people to act, he said.
From Bloomberg
Twenty-two other people were wounded during that stretch.
From Chicago Tribune
I'm still not sure those are real people that post stuff like that.
From CNN
These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.

Collocations with people

people

These are words often used in combination with people.

Click on a collocation to see more examples of it.

able-bodied people
They faced higher nutritional stress since the bulk of farming had to be done by a limited number of able-bodied people.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
aboriginal people
This led to the significant erosion of the land base available to aboriginal people on which to pursue these traditional activities.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
civilized people
Gain and sustenance represent the value realized from labor among civilized people.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.
See all collocations with people
What is the pronunciation of people?
 

Translations of people

in Chinese (Traditional)
人, 人們, 大家…
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in Chinese (Simplified)
人, 人们, 大家…
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in Spanish
personas, la gente, todo el mundo…
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in Portuguese
pessoas, gente, povo…
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in more languages
in Marathi
in Japanese
in Turkish
in French
in Catalan
in Dutch
in Tamil
in Hindi
in Gujarati
in Danish
in Swedish
in Malay
in German
in Norwegian
in Urdu
in Ukrainian
in Telugu
in Bengali
in Czech
in Indonesian
in Thai
in Vietnamese
in Polish
in Korean
in Italian
लोक…
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人々, 国民, 民族…
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insanlar, halk, kişiler…
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personnes [feminine, plural], gens [masculine…
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persones, poble, gent…
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mensen, de mensen, men…
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ஆண்கள், பெண்கள் மற்றும் குழந்தைகள், அனைவரையும் குறிக்கப் பயன்படுகிறது…
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लोग, (समूह में सभी) लोग…
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પુરુષો, સ્ત્રીઓ અને બાળકો., લોકો…
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personer, folk…
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personer, folk, människor…
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orang, bangsa…
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die Leute (pl.), das Volk…
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folk [neuter, plural], personer [neuter…
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لوگ…
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люди, народ, нація…
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పురుషులు, స్త్రీలు, పిల్లలు…
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মানুষ, পুরুষ, মহিলা এবং শিশু…
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osoby, lidé, lidstvo…
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orang, bangsa…
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บุคคล, คน, ประชากร…
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người, người dân, dân tộc…
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ludzie, naród, lud…
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사람들, 국민…
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persone, gente, popolo…
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penuriously
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peon
peony
people
people carrier
people meter
people mover BETA
people person

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