[1] : The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

people \peo"ple\ p=e"p'l, n. oe. peple, people, of. pueple,
   f. peuple, fr. l. populus. cf. populage, public,
   pueblo.
   1. the body of persons who compose a community, tribe,
      nation, or race; an aggregate of individuals forming a
      whole; a community; a nation.
      1913 webster

            unto him shall the gathering of the people be.
                                                  --gen. xlix.
                                                  10.
      1913 webster

            the ants are a people not strong.     --prov. xxx.
                                                  25.
      1913 webster

            before many peoples, and nations, and tongues.
                                                  --rev. x. 11.
      1913 webster

            earth's monarchs are her peoples.     --whitter.
      1913 webster

            a government of all the people, by all the people,
            for all the people.                   --t. parker.
      1913 webster

   note: peopleis a collective noun, generally construed with a
         plural verb, and only occasionally used in the plural
         form peoples, in the sense of nations or races.
         1913 webster

   2. persons, generally; an indefinite number of men and women;
      folks; population, or part of population; as, country
      people; -- sometimes used as an indefinite subject or
      verb, like on in french, and man in german; as, people in
      adversity.
      1913 webster

            people were tempted to lend by great premiums.
                                                  --swift.
      1913 webster

            people have lived twenty-four days upon nothing but
            water.                                --arbuthnot.
      1913 webster

   3. the mass of community as distinguished from a special
      class; the commonalty; the populace; the vulgar; the
      common crowd; as, nobles and people.
      1913 webster

            and strive to gain his pardon from the people.
                                                  --addison.
      1913 webster

   4. with a possessive pronoun:
      a one's ancestors or family; kindred; relations; as, my
          people were english.
      b one's subjects; fellow citizens; companions;
          followers. "you slew great number of his people."
          --shak.
          1913 webster

   syn: people, nation.

   usage: when speaking of a state, we use people for the mass
          of the community, as distinguished from their rulers,
          and nation for the entire political body, including
          the rulers. in another sense of the term, nation
          describes those who are descended from the same stock;
          and in this sense the germans regard themselves as one
          nation, though politically subject to different forms
          of government.
          1913 webster
see also:
populage public pueblo people nation 

[2] : The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

people \peo"ple\ p=e"p'l, v. t. imp.  p. p. peopled
   p=e"p'ld p. pr.  vb. n.; peopling p=e"p'li^ng.
   cf. of. popler, puepler, f. puepler. cf. populate.
   to stock with people or inhabitants; to fill as with people;
   to populate. "peopled heaven with angels." --dryden.
   1913 webster

         as the gay motes that people the sunbeams. --milton.
   1913 webster
see also:
peopled peopling populate 

[3] : WordNet (r) 2.0

people
     n 1: plural any group of human beings men or women or
          children collectively; "old people"; "there were at
          least 200 people in the audience"
     2: the body of citizens of a state or country; "the spanish
        people" syn: citizenry
     3: the common people generally; "separate the warriors from the
        mass"; "power to the people" syn: multitude, masses,
        mass, hoi polloi
     4: members of a family line; "his people have been farmers for
        generations"; "are your people still alive?"
     v 1: fill with people or supply with inhabitants; "people a
          room"; "the government wanted to populate the remote
          area of the country" syn: populate
     2: make one's home or live in; "she resides officially in
        iceland"; "i live in a 200-year old house"; "these people
        inhabited all the islands that are now deserted"; "the
        plains are sparsely populated" syn: dwell, shack, reside,
         live, inhabit, populate, domicile, domiciliate
see also:
citizenry multitude masses mass hoi polloi populate 
dwell shack reside live inhabit 
domicile domiciliate 

[4] : Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0

206 moby thesaurus words for "people":
   everyman, john doe, public, richard roe, agnate, ancestors,
   ancestry, anchor, animal kingdom, assembly, billet at, bivouac,
   blood, blood relation, blood relative, bodies, body politic,
   bourgeoisie, breed, brethren, brood, burrow, camp, children,
   churchgoers, citizenry, clan, clansman, class, cognate, collateral,
   collateral relative, colonize, come to anchor, common man,
   common people, commonage, commonality, commonalty, commoners,
   commonwealth, community, community at large, congregation,
   connections, consanguinean, constituency, consumers,
   cultural community, deme, demos, denizen, distaff side,
   distant relation, domesticate, drop anchor, dwellers, empeople,
   enate, ensconce, establish residence, estate, everybody, everyman,
   everyone, everywoman, family, flesh, flesh and blood, flock, fold,
   folk, folks, forebears, general public, gens, gentry, german, get,
   grass roots, habitancy, hearth, hive, hoi polloi, homefolks, house,
   household, inhabit, inhabitants, issue, keep house, kin, kind,
   kindred, kinfolk, kinnery, kinsfolk, kinsman, kinsmen, kinswoman,
   kith and kin, laity, laymen, line, lineage, linguistic community,
   live at, locate, masses, matriclan, men, menage, minyan,
   mobile vulgus, moor, mortals, move, multitude, nation, nationality,
   near relation, nest, next of kin, nonclerics, nonordained persons,
   occupy, offspring, order, parish, parishioners, park, patriclan,
   people at large, people in general, perch, persons, phratry, phyle,
   plant, plant kingdom, plebeians, plebes, polity, populace,
   populate, population, posterity, proletariat, public, race,
   ragtag and bobtail, rank and file, relations, relatives, relocate,
   reside, roost, seculars, sept, set up housekeeping, set up shop,
   settle, settle down, settle in, sheep, sib, sibling,
   silent majority, sit down, society, spear kin, spear side, species,
   speech community, spindle kin, spindle side, squat, stand, state,
   stay at, stem, stirps, stock, strain, strike root, subjects,
   sword side, take residence at, take root, take up residence,
   tenant, the citizenry, the crowd, the general public, the people,
   the populace, the population, the public, third estate, totem,
   tribe, tribesman, uterine kin, whole people, world, you and me

[5] : Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856)

people. a state; as, the people of the state of new york; a nation in its 
collective and political capacity. 4 t. r. 783. see 6 pet. s. c. rep. 467. 
     2. the word people occurs in a policy of insurance. the insurer insures 
against "detainments of all kings, princes and people." he is not by this 
understood to insure against any promiscuous or lawless rabble which may be 
guilty of attacking or detaining a ship. 2 marsh. ins. 508.  vide body 
politic; nation. 

People >> P Words
People, definition of term: People
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Good People >> G Words
Good People, definition of term: Good People
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