| 释义 |
peoplen. Origin: A borrowing from French. Etymons: French people, peuple. Etymology: < Anglo-Norman pople, people, peple, peuple, poeple, pouple, puple, pueple, peopel, popel nation, subjects, common people, crowd and Old French, Middle French pueple, pople, etc. (also pule, peule) inhabitants of a country (first half of the 12th cent. in Old French; earlier as poblo (842), poble (c1000)), subjects (first half of the 12th cent.), humankind (c1135), common people (13th cent.) < classical Latin populus a human community, nation, animals, the populace, the body of citizens exercising legislative power, (plural) nations, peoples, in post-classical Latin also Christians in general, laity, congregation (late 2nd or early 3rd cent. in Tertullian), army (5th cent.), parish (10th cent.), a reduplicated form of uncertain origin. Compare Old Occitan poble (a1149), pobol (c1150; Occitan pòble), Catalan poble (c1200), Spanish pueblo (1207), Portuguese povo (13th cent. as poboo, poblo, pobro), Italian popolo (13th cent.; also in 13th cent. as povolo).In sense 6b after classical Latin populī , gentēs peoples (see gens n.). Although in origin a singular noun, the word had from its earliest use an implied or actual plural sense. In the earliest texts it is found with singular agreement. Plural agreement occurs from the 15th cent., though singular modifiers continue to be used in some contexts, especially much (see much adj. 2e). Actual plural usage is practically limited to sense 7, and even here many early modern English writers avoided using the plural form (see sense 6b). I. In general, indefinite use. 1. In singular. Used unemphatically, as a general or indefinite designation: persons unspecified as regards number, class, or identity. In this use the word is almost equivalent to a pronoun (cf. a man at man n.1 17a), comparable in subjective use to French on (see one pron.), German man (see man pron.), but having a corresponding objective and possessive; e.g. ‘people say that he is extravagant’, ‘drivers waiting to bring people back’, ‘to give people what they want’, ‘one who can read people's thoughts’.the world > people > people collectively > [noun] a1300 in R. Morris (1872) 92 Þer he þolede pyne, as þe peple me tolde. c1400 (a1376) W. Langland (Trin. Cambr. R.3.14) (1960) A. ii. 176 (MED) Marchauntis..Aparailide hym as a prentice þe peple to serue. ?a1425 (?a1350) T. Castleford Chron. Lear 232 in G. Haselbach & G. Hartmann (1957) 222 (MED) The maydyn he askes..Cordoil to wyf..Of qwoys fayr thewes þe pepyll hym telles. ?a1475 (?a1425) tr. R. Higden (Harl. 2261) (1876) VI. 211 (MED) Peple honoure noo thynge in theyme [sc. images of Saints] but God or..seyntes, whiche they represente to us. 1496 (c1410) (de Worde) ii. ii. 111/1 People kepe not theyr vowes..but breke them retchelesly or wylfully. a1500 (?c1450) 32 (MED) And wite it well, peple shulbe glad euer to heiren it..And thi boke shalbe cleped..the boke of the seynt Graal. 1548 f. cxcvi He graunted lycence..for certayn cottesolde shepe to be transported in to..Spayne (as people report). 1600 W. Shakespeare ii. i. 242 A man may liue as quiet in hell, as in a sanctuarie, and people sinne vpon purpose, because they would goe thither. View more context for this quotation a1616 W. Shakespeare (1623) i. i. 56 Wee'l..note The qualities of people . View more context for this quotation 1655 H. L'Estrange 129 The rigour and strictnesse of Sabbatarian Ministers, in denying People recreations on the Sunday. 1696 M. Prior 16 But why should I stories of Athens rehearse, Where people knew love, and were partial to verse? 1709 R. Steele No. 47. ⁋2 People that want Sense, do always in an egregious Manner want Modesty. 1762 O. Goldsmith II. 183 People are naturally fond of going to Paradise at as small expense as possible. 1843 J. H. Newman (1891) II. 425 People cannot understand a man being in a state of doubt. 1871 J. Morley Carlyle in (1878) 163 Excess, on the other side, leads people into emotional transports. 1965 N. Mandela xv. 188 People are afraid to walk alone in the streets after dark. 1993 May 16/3 The need to take people's views and experience into account was hammered home in 1975. 2. In singular. With plural agreement. c1330 (?c1300) (Auch.) 2275 (MED) Þre kinges and dukes fiue His cheualrie adoun ginneþ driue, And meche oþer peple ischent. c1385 G. Chaucer 2513 The paleys ful of peple up and doun, Heere thre, ther ten. c1400 (a1376) W. Langland (Trin. Cambr. R.3.14) (1960) A. i. 7 Þe moste partie of þis peple [v.r. people] þat passeþ on erþe, Haue þei worsshipe in þis world. ?c1450 (1891) 7717 Many pepill þai robbid and pild [rhyme kyld]. 1483 (Caxton) iv. xxiii. 69 Lycence is nought easy to gete Spyrytes for to speken to dedely people. a1500 (1839) 5 Whereof the most peple were sory. 1525 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart II. clx. 177 a Trecte, a fraunches towne for all maner of people. a1616 W. Shakespeare (1623) i. vii. 33 I haue bought Golden Opinions from all sorts of people . View more context for this quotation 1662 J. Davies tr. A. Olearius 293 The City was so depopulated, that there were not people enough left to fill the sixt part of it. 1705 G. Stanhope I. 59 A Nature which cannot bear its own, and much less other Peoples Burden. 1709 R. Steele No. 36. ⁋3 ‘There are Some People who fancy, if Other People—’ Autumn repartees; ‘People may give themselves Airs; but Other People, perhaps, who make less ado, may be, perhaps, as agreeable as People who set themselves out more’. 1836 C. Dickens (1837) iv. 35 The scene of action, towards which crowds of people were already pouring, from a variety of quarters. 1898 H. G. Wells i. xii. 101 I heard answering shouts from the people in the water about me. 1908 1 May 4/6 Many people are under the impression that the famous Kerry Hill sheep come from Ireland. 1989 Jan. 5/2 Four out of five people thought that fresh fruit and vegetables should be labelled. the world > people > [noun] a1500 (?c1450) 534 Ffor thei be no peple as other be, but it be fendes of helle,..ffor neuer mortall man myght do that these haue vs don. 1589 G. Puttenham iii. xvi. 150 Raskall is properly the hunters terme giuen to young deere, leane & out of season, and not to people. 1872 1 147 From its form, wazimu should signify people or spirits. 1920 D. H. Lawrence vi. 69 There aren't many things, neither people nor animals, that have it in them to be really dangerous. 2003 (Nexis) 1 Apr. a2 For the drive, they strapped a figure in the shape of a headless body to the trunk of their car with the message ‘They are people, not animals’. a1667 Bp. J. Taylor (1678) ii. xiii. 90 Joynts of a dead Man..fit for nothing but for the little people that creep in Graves. 1744 J. Thomson Summer in (new ed.) 70 Ere the soft fearful People to the Flood Commit their woolly Sides. 1824 M. R. Mitford I. 276 Even the four-footed people who wear iron shoes make wry faces, poor things! at those stones. 1899 G. Jekyll vii The flitting of butterflies, the hum of all the little winged people among the branches. 1913 E. H. Barker 278 All the other feathered people in the grove. 1999 (Nexis) 26 June r8 Clearly our genocidal impulses in regard to these little winged people have to be reconsidered. 1891 J. Maitland 201 ‘He is great people’ is used in a commendatory sense of anyone. 1926 J. Black ix. 105 He's good people and I want to get him fixed up for a cell with the right folks. 1949 N. R. Nash i. ii. 14 I guess she's people of good heart. 1999 J. Cahill Guy walks into Psychiatrist's Office (HBO TV shooting script) 24 in 2nd Ser. (O.E.D. Archive) Lee's good people. He came all the way from the village on an hour's notice. II. Specific uses. 3. In singular. Chiefly with the. society > society and the community > social class > the common people > [noun] a1325 (c1280) (Pepys 2344) (1927) 769 Þo nolde hi oure lord nyme ffor þe peoples speche. a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden (St. John's Cambr.) (1865) I. 35 Kyng in his rewme, knyȝt in bataile.., lawefulman in þe peple, [etc.]. ?a1400 (a1338) R. Mannyng (Petyt) ii. 127 (MED) Þe barons..Henry nam; To London þei him brouht with grete solempnite, þe popille him bisouht þer kyng forto be. 1490 (1962) xxxi. 116 Amonge the knyghtes & pepyll of Tourmaday. a1500 (?c1450) 24 (MED) So hadde Vortiger the hertys of the peple, and he knewe well that thei heilde hym worthy and wise. a1616 W. Shakespeare (1623) iii. iii. 35 Our People, and our Peeres, are both mis-led. View more context for this quotation 1650 in E. Nicholas (1886) I. 198 The People in England are universally discontented with the daily new Taxes imposed on them. 1771 ‘Junius’ (1772) II. lix. 264 I speak to the people as one of the people. a1854 H. Reed (1878) vii. 225 He caught the ear of the people by using the people's own speech. 1879 M. Arnold G. Sand in 339 The people is what interested George Sand. And in France the people is, above all, the peasant. 1900 J. Hollingshead 5 Thackeray..was not so well known in the streets as Charles Dickens—he was not so much of a ‘people's man’. 1953 E. Simon iv. ii. 229 Which of them is the scion of the upper classes and which the son of the people? 2000 15 Sept. i. 4/6 King George was famously out of tune with the mood of the people. society > faith > church government > laity > [noun] a1382 (Bodl. 959) (1961) Lev. iv. 3 Ȝif þe prest þat is anoynted synne, makynge þe peple to trespace. c1400 (a1376) W. Langland (Trin. Cambr. R.3.14) (1960) A. Prol. 56 (MED) I fond þere Freris..Prechinge þe peple for profit of þe wombe. ?a1425 (?a1350) T. Castleford (1940) 20644 Kyng arthur..þan bifor him son gert he calle þe clergie and þe pople alle. a1475 (Lansd.) (Ph.D. diss., Univ. of Washington) (1965) 7853 (MED) A clerke..to þe peple prechith And Goddis wil to hem techiþ. 1549 (STC 16267) Svpper of the Lorde f. cxxxv Then shall the Prieste [1552 minister] firste receiue the Communion in both kindes himselfe, and next deliuer it to other Ministers,..and after to the people. a1633 G. Herbert (1652) vi. 19 Both Amen and all other answers which are on the clerk's and people's part to answer. 1678 2 The Priests gave the People a dismiss at Mass. 1796 H. Hunter tr. J.-H. B. de Saint-Pierre (1799) III. 502 Because the Nobility and Clergy are conglomerated into one mass with the People. 1879 T. F. Simmons Introd. 18 The Church..having appointed simultaneous but separate devotions for the priest and people. 1885 (Weekly ed.) 16 Oct. 15/2 A house-going clergy would make a church-going people. 1995 13 Jan. 9/1 The priest, after taking the service as usual, would go home and leave the people to sing carvals, the Manx version of carols. society > authority > office > appointment to office > choosing or fact of being chosen for office > election of representative body by vote > right to vote at elections > [noun] > one who has right to vote > whole body of electors a1450 (c1412) T. Hoccleve (Harl. 4866) (1897) 2885 (MED) Thus, my gode lorde, wynneth your peples voice, ffor peples vois is goddes voys, men seyne.] 1646 T. Edwards 15 That all Power, Places, and Offices that are just in this Kingdom, ought only to arise from the choise and election of the people. 1692 J. Washington tr. J. Milton vii. 169 Under the word People, we comprehend all our Natives, of what Order and Degree soever; in that we have settled one Supreme Senate only, in which the Nobility also, as a part of the People..may give their Votes. 1792 G. Morris in J. Sparks (1832) II. 243 It is not possible to say, to the people or to the sea, so far shalt thou go and no farther. 1809 E. A. Kendall I. vii. 50 An example, I believe solitary in the statutes, of the use of the word people as a body possessed of civil rights. 1884 2 Aug. 998/2 He also accused the Government of not trusting the people, of shrinking from an appeal to the people. 1944 W. R. Scott xxii. 179 Many members who long had voted dry accepted the election result as a mandate from the people. 1992 8 June 8/2 The Euro-zealots appear unable to cope with the voice of the people or deal with democratic decisions. society > law > administration of justice > general proceedings > accusation, allegation, or indictment > [noun] > one who accuses of crime > the prosecution 1801 W. Coleman 34 Ludlow ads. The People. 1849 3 193 J. McGay for the defendant, cited The People v. Koeber. 1926 230 485 People v. Lorde. The people's testimony tends to show that..the defendant..went to the store of one John Kay. 1940 453 The People (at the suit of the Attorney-General) v. James Fennell (No. 2). 1973 4 Sept. 4/7 The prosecutor mentioned that he had provided defense counsel with pre-trial statements made by the People's witnesses. 1992 J. Casey 27 By virtue of Article 30.3 [of Bunreacht na hÉireann], all prosecutions on indictment are to be in the name of the People. 4. In singular. Persons in relation to an individual, or individuals, to whom or with whom they belong. (Chiefly with possessive.) In modern English with plural agreement. society > authority > subjection > service > servant > [noun] > servants collectively > of a family or household society > authority > subjection > service > servant > retainer or follower > [noun] > collective or retinue c1330 (Auch.) (1882) 60 (MED) King charles..Wente him to ward parys..& muche poeple to him kam, & token alle here consail þare Þat þei wolden..werren..wiþ godes foon. c1400 (?a1300) (Laud) (1952) 1030 All þe jnnes of þe toun Hadden litel foysoun Þat day þat com Cleopatras, So mychel poeple wiþ hir was. c1450 (a1400) (Calig. A.ii) (1969) 1107 Syr Libeauus aȝen be-held How fulfelde was þe feld, So greet peple þer was. a1470 T. Malory (Winch. Coll.) 792 Than the people brought her clothis, and whan sche was arayed sir Launcelot thought she was the fayryst lady that ever he saw. 1569 R. Grafton I. v. 42 And on a tyme goyng on huntyng, when he had lost his people, he was destroyed of Wolues. 1605 J. Hall Voy. Greenland in D. B. Quinn (1979) IV. 264 Which resolution [of the captain]..did mitigate the stubbornenesse of the people. 1679 J. Graham 1 June (1826) 30 I mad the best retraite the confusion of our people would suffer. 1745 P. Thomas 51 Commissioned the Trial's prize..with the same Commander, Officers and People. 1771 G. Cartwright (1911) 96 [On Christmas Day] I read prayers, and afterwards regaled the people with veal pie and rice pudding for dinner. 1828 W. Scott Fair Maid of Perth xii, in 2nd Ser. I. 314 The Douglas's people are in motion on both sides of the river. 1884 8 Nov. 494/3 I am glad that my people had the nous to show you into a room where there was a fire. 1915 A. Conan Doyle i. ii. 29 I may tell you that Moriarty rules with a rod of iron over his people. 1991 15 May 3/2 I think we should trust our people more; I think we have too many people in management. society > society and the community > social relations > association, fellowship, or companionship > a company or body of persons > [noun] society > authority > subjection > [noun] > one subject to authority > of a monarch or ruler > collectively c1390 G. Chaucer 2530 No man may venquysse..a lord..biloued of his citezeins and of his peple. a1400 (a1325) (Vesp.) 18371 (MED) Þou es þe lauerd..of hele, Til all þi peple for to bring Vte of thralhed til þi chosling. 1444 V. 117/1 The Gaugeour..will come into no mannys Celer..to grete damage and hynderyng of the Kynges true Liege people. ?c1450 (1891) 5231 (MED) Þe pepil of þe saynt Fledd away with þair gude. 1556 in J. G. Nichols (1852) 31 For cruelnes that he dyd unto hys perys and hys pepull. 1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach iv. f. 182 Who [sc. the king bee] must him selfe also be depriued of his winges, if he be to busie headded, & wil alwayes be carrying his people abroade. 1611 Dan. ix. 26 The people of the Prince that shall come, shall destroy the citie. View more context for this quotation 1677 A. Marvell 52 To raise, betwixt the King and his People, a rational Jealousy of Popery, and French Government, till we should insensibly devolve into them. 1733 A. Pope iii. 214 Then Virtue Only..A Prince the Father of a People made. 1765 J. Dickinson i The importations into Great Britain are merely for consumption, without affording any employment to her people. 1851 Ld. Tennyson vi She wrought her people lasting good. 1892 3 May 3/1 The way in which Khama fathers his people. 1914 31 Jan. 147/2 The Ranee carries her love for her people to the extent of even finding excuses for the head-hunting propensities of the Dyaks and Kayans. 1992 J. M. Kelly iii. 99 It can be seen..how revolutionary was..Mangeold's view of the ruler's continuing title depending on his keeping his side of the bargain with his people. society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > relations or kindred > [noun] > relations and friends society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > relations or kindred > [noun] > relations of wife or husband a1425 (a1382) (Corpus Oxf.) Gen. xxv. 8 Abraham..was deed in a good elde..and he was gaderyd to his puple [1611 was gathered to his people]. 1474 W. Caxton tr. (1883) ii. ii. 27 And so a Quene ought to be chaste, wyse, of honest peple. 1524 R. Copland tr. J. de Bourbon Syege Cyte of Rodes in sig. Bviv They wende that they had slayne the thyrde parte of our people. 1609 I. Ruth i. 15 Behold thy kinswoman is returned to her people. 1773 B. Franklin Let. in (1987) 706 Let them return to their Family Seats, live among their People. 1837 W. Irving III. 246 I have taught him the language of my people. 1894 M. Dyan (1899) 262 John and I went down into Devonshire, for me to be introduced to my people-in-law, you know. 1916 A. Huxley 7 Aug. (1969) 109 I've arranged to be with my people in the country during August. 1917 12 Nov. 6/6 One's people-in-law are ever after in too close association, and have too many claims, to be ignored if they happen to be undesirable. 1945 B. A. Botkin 71 You know, all the property and all the niggers belonged to Old Miss. She got all that from her peoples. 1971 ‘M. Innes’ viii. 133 You know about my wife's people. 1993 Jan. 8/1 The Nobel Peace Prize was recently awarded to Rigoberta Menchú, a Mayan Indian woman who has protested the violence against her people. 5. the world > people > nations > native or inhabitant of specific region > [noun] c1330 (?c1300) (Auch.) (1937) 2101 (MED) Child Amoraunt stode the pople among. a1375 (c1350) (1867) 2278 Þe prouost þan prestely þe pepul dede warne, as þei nold lese here lif, here londes & here godes, þat alle hieȜden hastily. a1400 (a1325) (Vesp.) 8651 (MED) All folud him, bath ald and ying, O þe peple [a1400 Fairf. poeple] of ilk tun. c1400 (?c1390) (1940) 123 Þen þe first cors come..& on so fele disches, þat pine to fynde þe place þe peple bi-forne For to sette þe syluener. c1450 (a1400) (Calig. A.ii) (1969) 2080 All þe peple of þe toune Wyth a fayr processyoun þyder þey gonne þrynge. 1480 W. Caxton (1482) ccxlii. 282 Was ther a rumour..that kyng Richard come to westmynstre, and the peuple of london ranne thyder. 1577 J. Dee 7 Some of them..offer such shamefull wrongs to the good laboursom people of this Land, as is not (by any reason) to be born withall, or endured any longer. 1600 J. Pory tr. J. Leo Africanus ix. 355 The people of the same region, when the fruits are once ripe, do prick them with their kniues. 1632 W. Lithgow v. 184 Monasteries, the people whereof..liue vnder the order of Saint Basile. 1711 Mrs. Long in J. Swift (1841) II. 477 I wish..you would make a pedigree for me; the people here want sadly to know what I am. 1776 A. Smith II. v. iii. 577 The present scarcity of gold and silver money in America is not the effect of the poverty of that country, or of the inability of the people there to purchase those metals. View more context for this quotation 1855 T. B. Macaulay III. xii. 163 The people of Cavan migrated in one body to Enniskillen. 1914 S. Lewis xv. 195 It was great to be in England—though the people there are kind of chilly some ways. 1992 1 Feb. 28/3 The people of the city have tried to turn the area into a bit of a tourist attraction. 2000 2 Dec. (Travel section) 11/1 The Domesday entry..shows that the people of Laxton were cultivating about 720 acres of arable land. the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > state of being gathered together > an assemblage or collection > [noun] > of people or animals > regarded as a whole or a body of people gathered c1449 R. Pecock (1860) 464 And whanne the peplis weren clepid to gidre to him, he seide to hem, ‘Heere ȝe’. a1500 (1839) 8 He..gaderyd a grete peple of menne. 1535 2 Chron. xxx. 13 There came together vnto Ierusalem a greate people, to kepe the feast of vnleuended bred. c1540 (?a1400) 1034 He [sc. Hercules] Assemblid of Soudiours a full sadde pepull. 1611 Isa. xiii. 4 The noise of a multitude in the mountaines, like as of a great people: a tumultuous noise of the kingdomes of nations gathered together. View more context for this quotation 1712 tr. H. More Scholia Antidote Atheism 171 in H. More (ed. 4) Who..affirms that Witches have no more to do with the Devil than other wicked peoples. 1739 T. Gray Let. 21 Apr. in (1971) I. 105 The Abbés indeed & men of learning are a People of easy access enough. 1781 E. Gibbon II. xxii. 327 If Julian could occupy [the provinces of Illyricum] he might expect that a people of soldiers would resort to his standard. 6. The body of men, women, and children comprising a particular nation, community, ethnic group, etc. Cf. folk n. 1. Sometimes viewed as a single unit, sometimes simply as a collective of individuals. a. In singular. the world > people > ethnicities > [noun] the world > animals > animals collectively > [noun] a1375 (c1350) (1867) 2649 Prestli to hir puple, to palerne sche ferde. a1382 (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Prov. xxx. 25 Foure thingis þer ben þe leste of þe erþe..Amptis, a feble puple, [etc.] [a1425 L.V. Amtis, a feble puple; 1535 Coverdale, The Emmettes are but a weake people; 1560 (Genev.), The pismires a people not strong; 1611 The Ants are a people not strong; L. populus infirmus]. c1450 (c1350) (Bodl.) (1929) 1089 So..ȝe ben by-set in an yle, Þat þer may comen in ȝour kiþ non vnkouþe peple. c1450 (?a1400) (Ashm.) 1497 (MED) Aray all þe cite, Þe stretis & in all stedis stoutly & faire..Lett þan þe pupill ilka poll apareld be clene. 1562 N. Winȝet (1888) I. 7 Setting vp ane peple heidles left of God. 1619 F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher i. sig. B2 I were much better bee a King of Beasts Then such a people. 1722 N. Amhurst 6 A martial People, though a People vain, Slaves, that o'er free-born Souls aspir'd to reign. 1792 R. Bage III. lxv. 118 It has been usual to suppose the English a people who bore misfortune with passion or with gloom. 1835 E. Bulwer-Lytton I. ii. vi. 279 Rienzi addressed the Populace, whom he had suddenly elevated into a People. 1863 A. P. Stanley I. v. 101 Whatever history exists is the history of a man,..but not of a people. 1932 9 Jan. 40/1 In the hunting and fishing stage of a people the highly exchangeable articles are commonly shells, skins, animals' teeth..and the like. 1994 No. 4. 4/1 An end was in sight to the long and bloody conflict which had left a people lacerated. a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden (St. John's Cambr.) (1865) I. 159 (MED) In Affrica, amonge þe puple Troglodyte is a welle þat makeþ hem þat drynkeþ þerof to haue good voys. a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus (BL Add.) f. 128v And þe puple of egipciens were I-smyte, and þe puple of hebrews were deliuerid out of þe cruel lordschipe of Egipcians. c1450 (?a1400) (Ashm.) 3208 (MED) Þe pepill out of Persy, quen þai oure prince see..vn-ȝarkid þe ȝatis of þe cite. a1500 (?a1425) Antichrist (Peniarth) in R. M. Lumiansky & D. Mills (1974) I. App. 499 (MED) My peple of Jwes were put me frome. 1531 T. Elyot iii. iv. sig. Z2v Whan they besieged the Gabaonites (a people of Chanani) they in conclusion receyued then in to a perpetuall leage. 1600 J. Pory tr. J. Leo Africanus Introd. 41 Ouer against which cape..do inhabite the people called Bramas. 1653 H. Holcroft tr. Procopius Persian Wars i. 13 in tr. Procopius This people are Christians,..and have..been subject to the King of Persia. 1776 E. Gibbon I. ix. 230 A people thus jealous of their persons, and careless of their possessions. 1857 H. T. Buckle I. xiii. 745 Every people worthy of being called a nation possess in their own language ample resources for expressing the highest ideas. a1894 R. L. Stevenson (1896) i. v. 37 A people of sea-rovers, emigrants from a crowded country. 1937 J. Marquand xx. 164 I know of no people who have a greater indifference than the Chinese to a certain type of danger. 1998 Sept. 65/2 A people who have lived in the area of St. George's Bay since time out of mind. the world > people > nations > [noun] c1485 ( G. Hay (2005) 188 De jure gencium, that is for to say, of the law of the peple. 1526 Luke ii. 31 For myne eyes have sene the saveour sent from the Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people [Gk. τῶν λαῶν; so 1535 Coverdale to Geneva, and 1611; c1384 Wycliffite, E.V. peplis, v.r. puplis; Rhem. and R.V. peoples]. 1535 Psalms lxvi[i]. 3 Let the people prayse the (O God), yee let all people prayse the. [So other versions to 1611; a1382 Wycliffite, E.V. puplis, R.V. peoples.] 1567 (1897) 85 All natiounis..The Kingis, and the peple, with ane consent, Resistis the, thy power and thy gloir. 1611 Isa. ii. 4 Hee shall iudge among the nations and shall rebuke many people [a1382 Wycliffite, E.V. puples, R.V. peoples] . View more context for this quotation 1625 N. Carpenter ii. xiii. 214 Letters and discipline was first borrowed from the easterne people. 1793 T. Jefferson (1859) IV. 20 It will prove that the agents of the two people [sc. the U.S. and France] are either great bunglers or great rascals. the world > people > ethnicities > [noun] > particular section or group of community or mankind a1382 (Bodl. 959) 1 Paralip. xvi. 24 Telleþ in gentiles his glorie, in alle puplis his merueiles. ?c1425 (c1380) G. Chaucer (Cambr. Ii.3.21) (1878) 2 A blisful lyf, a paisible and a swete Ledden the peples in the former age. c1475 (c1445) R. Pecock (1921) 138 (MED) Go ȝe and teche ȝe alle peplis, baptising hem. 1551 R. Robinson tr. T. More sig. Biii So manye strange and vnknowne peoples and contreis. 1639 T. Fuller v. xiii. 252 Saladine answered him, That he also ruled over as many peoples. 1665 R. Boyle v. i. sig. Ii7v A Throne, to which above an hundred other Peoples paid homage. 1778 R. Lowth xxxiv. 1 Draw near, O ye nations, and hearken; And attend to me, O ye peoples! 1842 T. P. Thompson I. 261 To say ‘The Representative of the peoples’ [as transl. Le Représentant des Peuples] would not be understood at all. Such, however, is the idiom of the original. 1845 G. S. Faber I. iii. ii. 208 The singular form of the word people. In the original hebrew [sic], the word is plural. If, therefore, the delicacy of our ears be offended by the uncouth sound of peoples: let us at least..substitute the more euphonic word nations. 1877 J. Morley 2nd Ser. 345 All our English-speaking peoples. 1910 I. 326/2 The desert regions yield support only to nomadic peoples, such as the Tuareg. 1999 22 Apr. 54/3 The Ruthenians are a part of the family of east Slavic peoples. III. With defining word. the world > people > people collectively > [noun] a1393 J. Gower (Fairf.) vii. 1687 Al the comun poeple aboute..Artificiers, Whiche usen craftes and mestiers, Whos Art is cleped Mechanique. 1418 in R. W. Chambers & M. Daunt (1931) 287 The kyng and his trewe liege poeple. 1429 IV. 337/2 An hole Disme of your lay poeple. ?1518 A. Barclay sig. Aiijv We fonde yonge people, be moche improuydent. 1625 S. Purchas ix. xii. §2 They hold that Monkies in times past were men and women, and call them in their language ‘The old people’. 1724 J. Henley et al. tr. Pliny the Younger I. v. xv. 246 I..was hearing a Variety of Complaints from my Country-People. 1857 R. S. Surtees viii. lii. 233 He hallooed the huntsman to trot briskly away.., to shake off the foot-people. 1879 T. F. Simmons Introd. 18 It was a congregational service in which the lay people took their part in their own tongue. 1904 H. James I. xxiv. 406 My own sweet countrypeople. 1954 E. Taylor 23 The money goes... Then trades-people become insolent, although the nouveaux riches still fawn. 1995 17 Dec. 17/6 Countries like Singapore take pride in improving the living standards of workpeople. 1897 29 July 160/1 Leland's Ocean House..has for years been the headquarters of the throngs of tennis people which gather there. 1907 Mar. 656/2 The dog people of this city will hold a mass meeting in connection with the Kennel Club. 1921 C. Mackenzie i. 17 If you are fond of cats you will have plenty to do. We are great cat people. 1950 23 Dec. 17/2 It's been my experience poodle people act like poodles. 2008 (Nexis) 30 Aug. 18 Historically we are tea people, not coffee people. 2014 K. Bogenschneider (ed. 3) 316 We're ‘people people.’ We like to interact with folks. Phrases P1. With complementary of-phrase. 1667 S. Pepys 10 Apr. (1974) VIII. 160 No more people of condition willing to live there. 1712 J. Browne tr. P. Pomet et al. I. 148 Freely..eaten by People of Quality. 1760 C. Lennox No. 1. 18 Meer common judges..allowed her person to be agreeable; people of discernment and taste pronounced her something more. 1799 T. Jefferson Let. 5 Feb. in (2004) XXXI. 9 Rigaud at the head of the people of colour [of Haiti] maintains his allegiance [to France]. 1801 23 May 163/3 The Americans..call the blacks, as well as their tawny offspring, people of colour. 1859 A. H. Clough tr. Plutarch II. 17 The sight of all this made the people of good repute in the city feel disgust and abhorrence. 1938 4 Apr. 65 (advt.) People of Taste say this new Kroehler living room furniture is the smartest and most satisfying they have ever seen. 1994 Nov. 21/2 ARA..came under criticism from many people of colour who were concerned that head-to-head tactics might stir up Nazi violence. b. 1697 H. Prideaux 37 The Men of Mecca were called the Illiterate, in opposition to the People of Medina, who being the one half Christians, and the other half Jews, were able to write and read; and therefore were called the People of the Book. 1834 A. Burnes I. x. 313 The Vizier took a cup, and said, ‘You must drink with us; for you are people of the book, better than the Russians.’ 1861 J. M. Rodwell tr. 635 O people of the Book! now hath our Apostle come to you to clear up to you The cessation of Apostles. a1936 R. Kipling (1937) viii. 224 It is true the Children of Israel are ‘people of the Book’, and in the second Surah of the Koran Allah is made to say: ‘High above mankind have I raised you.’ 1991 R. Oliver (1993) vii. 85 When Islam eventually became a religion of the book, other ‘people of the book’, Christians and Jews, were specifically excluded from the operations of the holy war, jihad. c. the world > people > ethnicities > ancient peoples of the Middle East and Asia Minor > peoples of the sea > [noun] 1896 10 356/1 We have a strong tradition that the Philistines of South Syria were..allied to the ‘peoples of the sea’. 1906 J. H. Breasted vi. xxiii. 477 The restless and turbulent peoples of the northern Mediterranean, whom the Egyptians designated the ‘peoples of the sea’, were showing themselves in ever increasing numbers in the south. 1950 H. L. Lorimer v. 150 On the monuments of Ramses III the most conspicuous of the Peoples of the Sea, the Shardana and Pulesati, are uniformly represented with round shields with single hand-grips. 1995 J. M. Modrzejewski & R. Cornman Chron. Table 233 Mineptah, 1212-1202, fought the Libyans and the Peoples of the Sea. the mind > mental capacity > expectation > surprise, unexpectedness > exclamation of surprise [interjection] > at someone's involvement the mind > mental capacity > expectation > feeling of wonder, astonishment > exclamation of wonder [interjection] > at someone's involvement 1698 W. Congreve 107 For this reason, they of all People should last have parted with the innocent and wholesome Remedies, which the Diversions of Musick administred. 1700 S. Parker 53 Physicians, of all people, gather most Money next to the Collectors of the Taxes. 1761 F. Sheridan I. 299 And with whom do you think, of all people in the world, she suspects him? 1851 S. Spencer 1 May (1912) 410 The Times yesterday contained some fine tho' rather enthusiastically loyal verses about the opening of the Exhibition by Thackeray of all people. 1925 V. Woolf 273 She accused Hugh Whitbread, of all people.., of kissing her. 1992 H. Mitchell iv. 82 You would think gardeners, of all people, would hesitate to fling poisons all over the place. Compounds C1. General attributive. a. 1881 C. Wordsworth in J. H. Overton & E. Wordsworth (1888) 332 A general fête of people-worship, by the people themselves. 1994 H. R. Madhubuti (1997) x. 315 Uncluttered by people worship, she lives always on the edge of significant discovery. b. 1822 R. Pollok in D. Pollok (1843) 151 I saw no people-blinding farce kept up. 1905 at People sb. People-born. 1940 11 171/1 The dilemma which the public librarian faces: Shall the public library be book-centered or people-centered? 1993 16 May a10/1 It calls its recommendations ‘five new pillars of a people-centered world order’. 1650 H. Brown 5 Would yee bee content that a people-devouring Prince (to use Homer's Phrase) should make the greatest part of your estates a preie to his greedie appetite. 1851 T. A. Buckley tr. Homer i. 9 A people-devouring [Gk. δημοβόρος] king [art thou]. 2001 (Nexis) 9 June 16 The artist was most insistent that he should be represented by this image—a demented, nightmarish, people-devouring monster. 1983 24 Sept. 4/4 We did not become more computer-friendly. They [sc. computers] became more people-friendly. 2001 S. Roaf et al. (2002) v. 115 The disastrous shift to having huge windows has made buildings much less people-friendly over the last 30 years. 1954 56 393 An important factor is likely to be personnel at all levels who are..nonauthoritarian, and ‘people-oriented’. 1993 28 Oct. 15/2 Systems need to be more people-oriented, and flexible enough to be changed easily and cost-effectively, time and time again. C2. 1965 21 Jan. 40 (advt.) We're in the people business... People want our checks, statements, loans, and burglar alarms. They also want our time, attention, advice, and good nature. 1999 18 Aug. (Business Review section) 4/5 There is a growing perception now that all businesses are people businesses. Good human resources management is the single most important indicator of productivity. 1970 31 May 21/4 Braniff built the $2-million Jet-rail... It is dreaming now of some other kind of people carrier for its new terminal building at the new field. 1983 26 Nov. 35/4 We have come to appreciate the Prairie's uncluttered spaciousness. We see it as less of a people carrier, more as a roomy estate car. 1997 Mar. 49/1 The Pronto's tall body lets passengers sit high in the car, as they do in a people-carrier. society > authority > rule or government > ruler or governor > sovereign ruler or monarch > [noun] > a sovereign people 1796 E. Burke i. 39 That Great Britain should..bid with the rest, for the mercy of the People-King. 1813 tr. F. C. Pouqueville 125 In the estimation of these barbarians, the name of Romans, of the people-king, is equivalent to that of vassal or slave. 1866 J. L. Motley Let. 25 July in (1889) II. vii. 239 A Hapsburg is not like a People-King, which cannot, save by annihilation, die. 1999 22 602 Through the general will, the people-king now corresponds mythically with power; this belief is the matrix of totalitarianism. 1971 J. P. Romualdi in 375 A ‘people mover’, a vehicle smaller than a streetcar..will provide continuous service between the old campus in town and the new campus in the suburbs. 1993 18 July i. 16/4 The three airport terminals..were designed to accommodate a monorail or other fixed-track people-mover system. 1851 E. B. Browning i. xx. 56 This..teacher, will..build the golden pipes and synthesize This people-organ for a holy strain. 1966 30 Apr. 4/4 I'm a people person, so I want a people job. 2003 A. Notaro iii. 23 She worked as a member of the cabin crew with Aer Lingus and she loved it, mainly because she was a people person. 1557 Earl of Surrey et al. sig. M.iiiv Peeplepesterd London lykes thee nought. 1579 T. North tr. Plutarch 42 He..remaineth now no more a King or a prince, but becommeth a people pleaser, or a cruell tyrante. 1607 W. Alexander Julius Cæsar ii. ii, in (rev. ed.) 202 That people-pleaser might have beene perceiv'd, By courteous complements below his rank. 1804 H. H. Brackenridge II. ii. iii. 130 But the people-pleaser is not always the friend of the people. 1995 23 Nov. ii. 6/1 Some would call Amy a saint... And some, the brutally honest, a people-pleaser. society > authority > power > [noun] > power of the people the world > matter > physics > energy or power of doing work > [noun] > capacity for exertion of mechanical force > man-power 1649 27 June–4 July 100 Speeche made by some Members of the Commons House..to cry up their People-power, the better to Divert his Majesty. 1976 25 Sept. 17/1 Kiceniuk figures it will take a ground speed of 19 or 20 m.p.h. to get the craft airborne with people power. 1992 15 June 15/2 In his ‘people power’ campaign he attacked traditional politicians. 1966 3 July f22/3 (advt.) You'll also need the necessary ‘people skills’ of conviction, persuasion and tact to make your ideas work. 2002 R. Gervais & S. Merchant 1st Ser. Episode 2. 83 David has trusted me with this because not only have I got people skills, but I am trained in covert operations. 1975 1 Sept. 11/1 Some East Europeans have begun to turn to professional people smugglers to help them in their flights. 2001 12 Mar. 9/5 People smugglers had promised him a stay in a resort-like atmosphere before he would slip into Australian society. 1975 1 Sept. 11/2 People smuggling has become a growth industry in Western Europe. 1999 15 Nov. 20/1 People smuggling has become a formidable and lucrative international racket that needs to be taken more seriously. 1965 5 Oct. 22/8 A person being examined is placed in a ‘people sniffer’, a glass cylinder, and an analysis of the outgoing air discloses the chemical make-up of the subject. 1977 2 May 44/1 Their principal piece of equipment is a ‘people sniffer’, an electronic sensing device developed to catch the prowling Viet Cong. Despite its name, the instrument actually detects the minute seismic vibrations caused by a person walking. 2000 (Nexis) 3 May a21 One of our secret technological marvels was a ‘people sniffer’—a device sensitive to the presence of ammonia in urine. society > authority > rule or government > a or the state > [noun] > state ruled by the people 1606 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas (new ed.) ii. iii. 151 The People-State, the Aristocricie, And sacred Kingdome, tooke authoritie A-like from Heav'n. 1967 76 414 Hence: ‘Economy-states are really people-states’. 1997 24 53 A different kind of state, which would be driven by the democratic, egalitarian, and multicultural character of the American people—that is, a ‘people-state’. 1977 24 Nov. 1/4 Illegal aliens and smuggling seem to go hand in hand. Along the border, thousands of people are involved in people trafficking. 1999 (Nexis) 24 May 3 Some of the international crime gangs engaged in smuggling drugs also view people-trafficking as a lucrative business. 2005 (Nexis) 18 Nov. 6 Another member of the gang who paid £5,000 for the woman, had previously admitted people trafficking within the UK for sexual exploitation. 2014 S. Gordon ii. 66 People trafficking involves the movement of large numbers of women and girls from poorer areas to work in the sex industry in large cities such as Mumbai. C3. Compounds with people's (frequently with capital initial). Of, belonging to, or for the people; spec. (in the terminology of Communism and Socialism) designating institutions, concepts, etc., regarded as belonging to and controlled by the people, rather than a select ruling group. society > authority > rule or government > politics > international politics or relations > diplomacy > [noun] > official residence of ambassador > foreign embassy of Libyan republic 1811 7 Sept. 9/2 I will attach myself, as an editor, to no party but the People's Party, whose wish is ‘peace, liberty and safety’. 1854 C. Fox Let. 21 Nov. in (1972) 217 F. Maurice was much cheered by the good beginning of his People's College. 1927 H. Dobbs in II. 558 On the part of the Opposition, now definitely constituted under the name of the People's Party,..doubts were expressed as to the advantage to Iraq of the extension of the 1922 Treaty for 25 years. 1942 16 A number of pacifists, including leading Communists, announced that they were organising a ‘People's Convention’ to demand ‘a People's Government’. 1953 Nov. 69/1 Looking over into East Berlin, one could see only a group of six People's Police in their new grey uniforms. 1961 15 Jan. i. 5/1 Pianist Svyatoslav Richter..has been given the Soviet Union's top artistic award: ‘People's Artist’. 1966 ‘H. MacDiarmid’ v. 148 Gaeldom, but for the English, gave good promise many centuries ago of evolving an ideal ‘people's state’. 1972 4 Feb. 9/4 In Buenos Aires, police continued the hunt for the ‘People's Revolutionary Army’ (ERP). 1987 29 Oct. 4/1 At the time of the People's March for Jobs the whole situation became a social, cultural and religious experience. b. society > armed hostility > armed forces > the Army > [noun] > militia or citizen army society > armed hostility > armed forces > the Army > [noun] > army on egalitarian principles 1856 Oct. 199 The failure of this grand attack by the combined peoples-army of Hungary, Germany, Italy and France, upon the position of absolutism. 1937 E. Snow vi. i. 211 The Kuominchun, the ‘People's Army’ of General Feng Yu'hsiang. 2000 2 Nov. 10/2 In September 1944..Hitler created the Volksturm [sic], the people's army, which included many children. 1938 7 Sept. 1/1 Award winners are Prof. Ferdinand Porsche, designer of the ‘Volkswagen’, Germany's new ‘people's car’. 1972 2 Feb. 7/6 The rise of nationalism has brought demands for inexpensive ‘people's cars’ in Chile, Peru and Venezuela. 1990 9 Mar. 6/1 Volkswagen's striking beetle-shaped Futura research vehicle could turn out to be the ‘people's car’ of the 1990s. the mind > emotion > love > loved one > [noun] > state or condition of being a favourite > favourite or pet > popular 1706 D. Defoe xi. 3 (note) The Crown naturally devolv'd upon the People's Choice, where it still remains. 1851 Apr. 290/2 The President is the people's choice, and that choice loads him with the office; he cannot shift responsibility to his ministers. 1953 P. G. Wodehouse 205 In Dormitory 309 the People's Choice was good old George Travers. 1997 11 Feb. ii. 4/2 Knowing kitsch and ironic gaucheness [are] coming to look pretty much like the authentic people's choice. society > law > administration of justice > judicial body, assembly, or court > [noun] > court dealing with political offences 1892 July 412/2 In the people's court of the elections—I could meet you there. 1915 21 396 The German system of people's courts without lawyers represents a triumph of method. 1921 A. Ransome 104 The ‘People's Court’. 1935 i. 191 A law of May 3 constituted a new and extraordinary Court of Justice, the so-called People's Court, for all political offences. This tribunal as well as the old regular courts in numerous cases passed excessively severe sentences on opponents of the Government. 1972 10 Oct. 1/5 The three-level federal system which emerged was composed of People's Courts with jurisdiction in rural areas; Regional Courts which are courts of first and second instance with appellate jurisdiction; and the Supreme Courts which are divided on a territorial basis into Supreme Courts of the autonomous republics, Union Republics and the U.S.S.R. 1994 H. Holland 12 Nothing illustrates the moral confusion and deep-rooted brutality of Soweto more sombrely than the local justice dispensed in ‘people's courts’. society > authority > rule or government > a or the state > [noun] > socialist or communist state 1944 18 91 We might argue that this was only typical of a small aristocratic class and should not hold in a people's democracy. 1958 F. W. Neal i. 1 The Communist leadership which came to power in Yugoslavia in 1945 organized the country along the lines prescribed by the Soviet Union for an Eastern European ‘people's democracy’. 2003 (Nexis) 4 Apr. 9 a Even communists called their governments ‘people's democracies’. 1661 T. Ross tr. Silius Italicus ii. 28 Publicola,..(as his name imports) the People's Friend. 1728 E. Young Love of Fame iv, in (1757) I. 110 The Crown's asserter, and the People's friend. 1801 J. B. Burges II. 90 Here the Defender of your Rights I stand,..As the People's Friend. 1869 A. Trollope I. xxx. 249 Now's the time to do it, and show yourself a people's friend. 1962 23 July 9/4 The D.M.K. will now be able to present itself as the people's friend in the fight against inflation as well as for a sovereign Dravidian state. 1990 11 May 16/1 At the time of the French Revolution, the leaders were all lawyers, from the incorruptible Robespierre to the people's friend Danton. society > authority > rule or government > politics > party politics > a party > [noun] > Communist Party > a communist organization > popular front 1936 10 72 Analysis of the social groups represented in the People's Front. 1998 92 417 A statement made in 1991 to the United Nations Working Group on indigenous populations in the names of members of the West Papuan Peoples' Front. society > leisure > entertainment > place of amusement or entertainment > [noun] > public centre for recreation 1853 C. A. Dana 117 Our own people's palace, the Capitol at Washington, a building of magnificent proportions. 1854 24 June 266/1 The People's Palace will become a misnomer if the people are so confined in workshops [etc.]..that none but the comparatively idle can visit what is expressly designed for the appreciation of the industrious. 1890 T. Hardy 13 Mar. (1978) I. 210 We cannot do better than what you propose—purchase a library of fiction for the People's Palace. 1967 29 July 12/4 Sir John Wardlaw-Milne..has left £100,000 to the State of Jersey..to build a ‘people's palace’ where tourists with children can shelter on wet days. 2001 24 Jan. i. 14/4 Crowds gathered around the People's Palace—where Kabila's body had lain in state for three days—to sing, dance, cry and watch. the world > food and drink > farming > gardening > garden > [noun] > large ornamental grounds > public park 1855 P. G. Hamerton 329 Along the waters in the people's park Rode troops of horsemen. 1963 19 Nov. 9/7 Rumford..suggested..in 1789 the laying-out of a great ‘people's park’ along the Isar. 1989 T. Bodett ii. xv. 154 Emily..thought that ‘People's Park’ would be the most appropriate name for it... ‘People's’ anything sounded too much like Communism to him. society > authority > power > [noun] > power of the people society > authority > rule or government > politics > party politics > a party > [noun] > types of party generally (in various countries) 1974 (Nexis) 12 Apr. 120 Raul Castro said the province, as yet unnamed, was to have ‘bodies of people's power with representatives democratically elected by the people’. 2003 (Nexis) 27 Apr. 13/3 The mixture of reform from above and people's power from below that triumphed in Poland and Hungary in 1989. society > authority > rule or government > a or the state > [noun] > socialist or communist state 1918 12 711 Ukrania..on November 20 proclaimed itself an independent state, under the name of the Ukranian People's Republic. 1949 8 Apr. 5/3 Mr. Rákosi..said..that ‘the Hungarian Republic must be developed into a People's Republic’. 1991 S. Winchester (1992) 245 It was only when the syndicate failed in its political ambition—after Mao won and declared the People's Republic that same October—that the men of 14K turned to crime. society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > the theatre or the stage > a theatre > [noun] > other types of theatre 1873 May 852/1 There is a gloomy drama founded on this which is still acted on every All-Souls Eve in the people's theatre. 1920 D. H. Lawrence 5 A nice phrase: ‘A People's Theatre’. But what about it? There's no such thing in existence as a People's Theatre. 1991 78 544 Henry C. Miner..donated the clubhouse at 207 Bowery, next door to his thriving People's Theatre. society > armed hostility > war > types of war > [noun] > people's war society > armed hostility > war > types of war > [noun] > total war 1857 Feb. 419/2 If it is a Peoples' war (and it may be), there will be no brother German against us, and England, if she is wise, will help us. 1904 L. Hale (title) The ‘People's War’ in France 1870–1871. 1976 M. Green viii. 311 Official propaganda presented this as a ‘people's war’, and emphasised the proletarian ordinariness of its heroes. 2001 C. Coker iii. 44 [Warfare] was deemed to test the viability of entire societies and their way of life. That was the terrible imperative of ‘a people's war’. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2005; most recently modified version published online June 2022). peoplev. Origin: Of multiple origins. Partly a borrowing from French. Partly formed within English, by conversion. Etymons: French peupler ; people n. Etymology: Partly < Middle French, French peupler (c1155 in Old French as popler ; compare Anglo-Norman popler , poplier , poeplier , etc.) < peuple people n., and partly < people n. 1. transitive. Frequently in passive. society > inhabiting and dwelling > furnishing with inhabitants > [verb (transitive)] a1475 ( S. Scrope tr. (Bodl. 943) (1999) 164 (MED) Kingis be worshupped bi iij causes..for instruccion of good lawis, for conquestis of regions, and for to peuplie desert landes. c1487 J. Skelton tr. Diodorus Siculus ii. 77 He began fyrst to peple the yle of Colches. c1500 (1895) 18 And he began within her land..for to byld & make fayre tounes & strong Castels, and was the land within short tyme peupled raisonably. a1533 Ld. Berners tr. A. de Guevara (1546) sig. Kk O gybet..thou arte peopled with innocentis. 1572 I. B. (title) A Letter..wherin is conteined a large discourse of the peopling & inhabiting the Cuntrie called the Ardes, and other adiacent in the North of Ireland. 1604 E. Grimeston tr. J. de Acosta iv. vi. 219 The force of Silver..hath peopled this mountaine more than any other place in all these Kingdomes. 1667 J. Milton x. 890 O why did God..that peopl'd highest Heav'n With Spirits Masculine, create at last..this fair defect Of Nature. View more context for this quotation 1708 W. Whiston (ed. 2) ii. 137 The nearest Regions must have been first and most fully peopled. 1766 T. Reid Let. in I. 47/1 Our College is very well peopled this session. 1781 E. Gibbon II. xxvi. 575 Petcheli..and the southern provinces were peopled with Indian savages. 1837 J. W. Croker in 8 Feb. (1884) II Our influenza..continues somehow to people the churchyards. 1891 W. Morris xxi. 161 I longed to see the hay-fields peopled with men and women worthy of the sweet abundance of midsummer. 1905 E. M. Forster vii. 236 He stood..filled with the desire that his son should be like him, and should have sons like him, to people the earth. 1986 R. Bothwell ii. 24 Land could be used to..attract entrepreneurs and projectors to open up and then to people the townships of Upper Canada. the mind > possession > supply > provide or supply (something) [verb (transitive)] > provide or supply (a person or thing) with anything > stock (a place, etc.) with something 1581 B. Rich i. sig. Eij We ariued at this place, distant from mine vncles palace eyght leagues, which as you see now, was onely peopled with wilde beastes. 1600 W. Shakespeare iv. iii. 265 O my poore kingdome..thou wilt be a wildernesse againe, Peopled with woolues, thy old inhabitants. View more context for this quotation 1615 J. Day xii. 341 Men depopulate whole Countries, to people the Land forsooth with Sheepe. 1712 R. Blackmore vii. 355 Thou..didst..People the Plains with Flocks, with Beasts the Wood. 1740 D. Hume III. ii. 50 Of all the animals, with which this globe is peopled, there is none towards whom nature seems..to have exercis'd more cruelty than towards man. 1859 C. Darwin x. 344 The dominant forms of life,..will in the long run tend to people the world with allied, but modified descendants. 1879 I. L. Bird iii. 33 They are peopled with large villages of what are called prairie dogs. 1926 M. Jefferson 23 Gauchos of a sort appeared on the Pampa as soon as it was peopled with animals. 1999 R. Deakin (2000) viii. 92 I observed a faint mist rising from clumps of tiny flowers peopled with tiny insects. the world > space > place > presence > fact of taking up space > take up (space or a place) [verb (transitive)] > imagine or represent as occupied ?1602 (MS Bodl. Rawl. poet. 212) (1893) (front matter) 3 It peoples the veyns, It scoureth the reynes, It purgeth the braines And maks all things fitte. 1633 P. Fletcher Psalm 63 in 89 Lank hunger here peoples the desert cells, Here thirst fills up the emptie wells. 1776 E. Gibbon I. xv. 468 The description of the infernal regions had been abandoned to the fancy of painters and of poets, who peopled them with..many phantoms and monsters. 1819 P. B. Shelley 11 This silent spot tradition old Had peopled with the spectral dead. 1879 R. A. Proctor x. 199 The fancies of men have peopled three of the four..elements..with strange forms of life. 1937 J. Marquand xiii. 80 I was peopling the courtyard with all the sinister, slinking figures of the Orient that adorn the pages of lurid fiction. 1993 12 Apr. 27/1 Hitchcock and his screenwriter, Ernest Lehman, create an amoral fantasyland..and people it with men and women who banter cooly as they live by their wits. 2. society > inhabiting and dwelling > [verb (transitive)] 1490 W. Caxton tr. (1885) vi. 150 Ye sholde have see come there, knyghtes, gentylmen, burgeys,..yomen,..so that this castell was pepled of all maner of folke. 1606 G. W. tr. Justinus xxxviii. 120 There is no difference between the Frenchmen that inhabit Asia, and the Frenchmen that people Italy. a1727 I. Newton (1728) i. 106 The people of Caria..began to frequent the Greek seas, and people some of the Islands therein. 1733 A. Pope i. 33 What vary'd Being peoples ev'ry Star. 1854 3rd Ser. 132 262 The thousand million of human beings who..people this planet. 1930 A. P. Herbert xi. 140 At Brentford,..where they left the tideway and entered the canal, they passed into another world, peopled by another race. 1992 May 50/1 Winnipeg is celebrated for its..bleak cold: it's peopled by those who have elected to remain. the world > space > place > presence > fact of taking up space > take up (space or a place) [verb (transitive)] the world > animals > by habitat > inhabit [verb (transitive)] 1597 W. Shakespeare v. v. 9 These same thoughts people this little world. View more context for this quotation 1619 F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher i. sig. B1v I..haue sent The pride of all his youth to people graues. 1645 J. Milton Il Penseroso in 37 As thick and numberless As the gay motes that people the Sun Beams. 1778 G. Huddesford ii. 20 Flies, Reptiles of monstrous proportion and limb, That people the green wave, and stink as they swim. 1805 W. Saunders (ed. 2) 224 The variety of marine productions that people this element. 1866 C. Kingsley I. viii. 199 The heroes of Troy, Alexander and his generals, peopled her imagination. a1933 J. A. Thomson (1934) I. i. 4 It is a great fact of life that almost every corner of land and sea has been peopled by animals. 1993 A. Rich xxi. 185 Other figures peopling my childhood: bonneted woman on the Dutch Cleanser can, Aunt Jemima beaming on the pancake box, [etc.]. society > inhabiting and dwelling > furnishing with inhabitants > colonizing > colonize [verb (intransitive)] 1596 W. Raleigh (new ed.) 19 Ieronimo Ortal de Saragosa, with 130 soldiers..was cast with the currant on the coast of Paria, and peopled about S. Miguell de Neueri. 1604 E. Grimeston tr. J. de Acosta vii. v. 508 Many talked of peopling there, and to passe no farther. the world > space > place > presence > fact of taking up space > take up space [verb (intransitive)] > be or become full > be or become crowded 1659 P. Heylyn i. 108 The world had peopled very slowly..if Eve had not twinned at least at every birth. 1796 J. Morse (new ed.) I. 355 This state [sc. Vermont] is rapidly peopling. 1892 July 155 Not being on the line of a railroad, it has not peopled so fast as Creede. 1970 A. W. Watts in J. Campbell 20 Our world is peopling, just as the apple tree apples, and just as the vine grapes. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2005; most recently modified version published online June 2022). <  n.a1300 v.a1475 |
