People
/ˈpiː.pəl/noun
Human beings in general or the members of a particular group or nation.
Did you know?The word ultimately comes from Latin populus, the same root behind legal and political ideas of “the people” as a collective force, not just a crowd.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*peh₂-
“to feed, protect, tend”
Latin
Latin
populus
“the people, the public, a nation”
Old French
Old French
pueple
“people, population”
Middle English
English
peple
“people, folk, nation”
Modern English
English
people
“human beings; a group of persons”
Explore more surprising origins