peopleとは意味・読み方・使い方

語源

From Middle English puple, peple, peeple, from Anglo-Norman people, from Old French pueple, peuple, pople, from Latin populus (“a people, nation”), from Old Latin populus, from earlier poplus, from even earlier poplos, from Proto-Italic *poplos (“army”) of unknown origin. Gradually ousted native English lede and, partially, folk.

Originally a singular noun (e.g. The people is hungry, かつ weary, かつ thirsty, in the wilderness –2 Samuel 17:29, King James Version, spelling modernized^[1]), the plural aspect of people is probably due to influence from Middle English lede, leed, a plural since 古期英語 times (compare 古期英語 lēode (“people, men, persons”), plural of 古期英語 lēod (“man, person”)). See also lede, leod.

発音

• (英国発音) IPA^(key): /ˈpiːpəl/
• (米国発音) IPA^(key): /ˈpipəl/, /ˈpipl̩/, [ˈpʰipɫ̩]
• 韻: -iːpəl
• ハイフネーション: peo‧ple
• Homophone: papal (some dialects)

名詞

people (countable かつ uncountable, 複数形 peoples)

1. Used as plural of person; a body of human beings considered generally or collectively; a group of two or more persons.

   Synonyms: (スラング) peeps, lede, leod

   There were so many people at the restaurant last night.

   • c. 1607, plaque recording the Bristol Channel floods:

     XXII people was in this parrish drownd.

   • 1813, Jane Austen, chapter 6, in Pride and Prejudice‎^[1], OCLC 38659585:

     "What a charming amusement for young people this is, Mr. Darcy! There is nothing like dancing after all. I consider it as one of the first refinements of polished society."

   • 1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 12, in The Mirror and the Lamp‎^[2], →ISBN, OCLC 647181172, archived from the original on 22 November 2017:

     There were many wooden chairs for the bulk of his visitors, and two wicker armchairs with red cloth cushions for superior people. From the packing-cases had emerged some Indian clubs, […], and all these articles […] made a scattered and untidy decoration that Mrs. Clough assiduously dusted and greatly cherished.

   • 1922, Ben Travers, chapter 1, in A Cuckoo in the Nest‎^[3], →ISBN, archived from the original on May 9, 2016:

     “[…] the awfully hearty sort of Christmas cards that people do send to other people that they don't know at all well. You know. The kind that have mottoes like
       Here's rattling good luck and roaring good cheer, / With lashings of food and great hogsheads of beer. […]”

   • 2013 June 1, “Towards the end of poverty”, in The Economist‎^[4], volume 407, number 8838, archived from the original on 10 October 2018, page 11:

     But poverty’s scourge is fiercest below $1.25 (the average of the 15 poorest countries’ own poverty lines, measured in 2005 dollars かつ adjusted for differences in purchasing power): people below that level live lives that are poor, nasty, brutish and short.

   • 2013 June 29, “A punch in the gut”, in The Economist‎^[5], volume 407, number 8842, archived from the original on 3 November 2018, page 72-3:

     Mostly, the microbiome is beneficial. It helps with digestion and enables people to extract a lot more calories from their food than would otherwise be possible. Research over the past few years, however, has implicated it in diseases from atherosclerosis to asthma to autism.

2. (countable) Persons forming or belonging to a particular group, such as a nation, class, ethnic group, country, family, etc.

   Synonyms: collective, community, congregation, folk

   • 1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, OCLC 1167497017:

     `So, oh Holly. This people was an old people before the Egyptians were.'

   • 1966, Dick Tuck, Concession Speech:

     The people have spoken, the bastards.

3. A group of persons regarded as being employees, followers, companions or subjects of a ruler.

   Synonyms: fans, groupies, supporters

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, 2 Samuel 8:15, column 1:

     And Dauid reigned ouer all Iſrael, and Dauid executed iudgement and iuſtice vnto all his people.

   • 1952, Old Testament, Revised Standard Version, Thomas Nelson & Sons, Isaiah 1:3:

     The ox knows its owner, and the ass its master's crib; but Israel does not know, my people does not understand.

4. One's colleagues or employees.
   • 2001, Vince Flynn, Transfer of Power (fiction), Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, page 250:

     Kennedy looked down at Flood's desk and thought about the possibilities. "Can you locate him?"
     "I already have my people checking on all three. So far I've only been able to confirm the whereabouts of the Jordanian officer."

   • 2008, Fern Michaels, Hokus Pokus (fiction), →ISBN, page 184:

     Can I have one of my people get back to your people, Mr. President?" She tried to slam the phone back into the base and failed.

5. A person's ancestors, relatives or family.

   Synonyms: kin, kith, folks

   My people lived through the Black Plague and the Thirty Years War.

6. The mass of a community as distinguished from a special class (elite); the commonalty; the populace; the vulgar; the common crowd; the citizens.

   Synonyms: populace, commoners, citizenry

   • 2013 June 21, Oliver Burkeman, “Conscious computing: how to take control of your life online”, in The Guardian Weekly‎^[6], volume 189, number 2, archived from the original on August 24, 2013, page 27:

     The dirty secret of the internet is that all this distraction and interruption is immensely profitable. Web companies like to boast about […], or offering services that let you […] "share the things you love with the world" and so on. But the real way to build a successful online business is to be better than your rivals at undermining people's control of their own attention.

people

1. plural of person.

使用する際の注意点

• When used to mean "persons" (meaning 1 above), "people" today takes a plural verb. However, in the past it could take a singular verb.
• Nowadays, "persons" as the plural of "person" is considered highly formal. All major style guides recommend people rather than persons. For example, the Associated Press and the New York Times recommend "people" except in quotations and set phrases. Under the traditional distinction, which Garner says is pedantic,^[2] persons describes a finite, known number of individuals, rather than the collective term people. "Persons" is more used in technical and legal contexts.

派生語

派生した語

• Jamaican Creole: piipl
• Pijin: pipol
• → Sranan Tongo: pipel
• → Tok Pisin: pipel

参考

• sheeple

動詞

people (三人称単数 現在形 peoples, 現在分詞 peopling, 過去形および過去分詞形 peopled)

2. (transitive) To stock with people or inhabitants; to fill as with people; to populate.
   • 1674, John Dryden, The State of Innocence and the Fall of Man, Act II, Scene I:

     He would not be alone, who all things can; / But peopled Heav'n with Angels, Earth with Man.

   • 1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], OCLC 21345056, page 159:

     Scenes, long since forgotten, had been peopling his solitude with one still cherished image paramount over all; one young fair face, whose sweet eyes seemed to look upon him reproachfully:...

3. (intransitive) To become populous or populated.
5. (transitive) To inhabit; to occupy; to populate.
   • a. 1645, John Milton, Il Penseroso, lines 7–8:

     […] / As thick and numberless / As the gay motes that people the Sun Beams, / […]

6. (rare, informal) To interact with people; to socialize.
   • 2018, Jennifer L. Armentrout, The Darkest Star, Tor Teen (→ISBN), page 149:

     I don't people well.” “Not peopling well is a crap excuse,” I retorted, and started to step around him, but a sudden thought occurred to me.

   • 2019, Casey Diam, Love, [7]:

     My head tilted as Calvin said, "Don't worry about him. He just doesn't people well.

     The fuck? I people. Sometimes. With people I know.

   • 2020, Teri Anne Stanley, Lucky Chance Cowboy, Sourcebooks, Inc. (→ISBN)

     I don't people well.” He laughed at that. “You do okay,” he assured her.

使用する際の注意点

• The informal interaction sense is chiefly used in the negative.

派生語

• peopler

参照

• people in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913

Further reading

• People on Wikipedia.
• People in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)

アナグラム

• Peploe