People
noun (plural peoples)
Definition: nation: a nation, community, ethnic group, or nationality
Ex: a proud people
plural noun
Definition:
1. human beings collectively: human beings considered collectively or in general
Ex: People tend not to mind if you ask them for help.
2. subordinates: persons who are under the authority or leadership of somebody or something, e.g. employees, subjects, or followers
Ex: I'll get one of my people to phone them.
3. ordinary men and women: the general population, as distinct from the government or higher social classes
Ex: the will of the people
4. political unit: a group of persons comprising a political unit, electorate, or group
5. family members: the members of somebody's family, especially somebody's close family ( informal )
Ex: My people were farmers.
transitive verb (3rd person present singular peoples, present participle peopling, past and past participle peopled)
Definition:
populate area: to populate an area ( usually passive )
Ex: mountain regions that are sparsely peopled
[13th century. Via Anglo-Norman and Old French< Latin populus< Etruscan]
Word Usage - people as singular or plural?
In most places, people behaves as a plural, as in People are funny; you never know what they will do. However, when people means 'a nation, community, ethnic group, or nationality', it is regarded as a singular and when used in the plural, takes an s plural ending: a Native American people of the Southwest, one of several such peoples noted for their peaceableness. The possessive of people is formed by adding an apostrophe + s if one people is stipulated: the people's choice of a new prime minister. If many peoples are stipulated, the possessive is formed by adding an apostrophe after the s: various Caribbean peoples' representatives at the conference. People is the preferred form in designating human beings in the plural generally: Thousands of people [not persons] jammed the stadium. What on earth will people [not persons] think if you do that? Use persons only in certain narrow, typically legalistic or otherwise official, contexts: the Bureau of Missing Persons; the arrest of three suspicious persons loitering outside the gates of Downing Street.