People is a collection of individuals, collectively considered a society, who share a common fate and identity. The word “people” has many different meanings in various contexts, but it essentially means a group of people or an agglomeration of individuals who have similar characteristics. In the most general sense, people are persons having a common bond. However, in more complex contexts people can also be people having a common bond, but differ in certain aspects such as beliefs, attitudes, customs, and behavior. It is also possible for a group of people to be entirely separate from each other while still retaining a common identity and destiny. People can also be divided into different categories such as race, tribe, caste, color, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, or disability.
Historically, people were grouped based on their physical features, abilities, and language. For instance, members of a highly organized caste group were collectively known as Brahmin while members of a highly disorganized, groupless, and unarmed group were collectively known as Kolis. Over time, different grouping systems emerged to label people according to their social classification, while still maintaining the idea that all people were basically the same. As a result, some people, while being categorized as members of an ethnic group, may actually be of a different ethnic group, have different cultural traits, or belong to a distinct social class altogether.
Today, people are often grouped based on their beliefs, attitudes, cultural practices, and disabilities. An example of this would be how Jews are grouped with Christians, Muslims are grouped with Arabs, Gypsies are grouped with Greeks, and Hindus are grouped with Buddhists. These ideas are rooted in etymology. Etymology refers to the science of creating languages. In the case of the word “people” in the above examples, its etymology points to the fact that it came from the Greek word “peopleos,” which meant “a group of people.”
In English, however, the word “people” is used to denote a single entity, the word “groups” to denote different subsets of that entity, and the word “peopling” to refer to a set of people, typically of Celtic descent. The concept of people has long been associated with collective identities, especially as regards to indigenous peoples. In many ways, all people in a particular country, tribe, caste, nation, or group are collectively referred to as “the people” or “the nation.” A prime example of this is how India is collectively known as India, even though there are many parts within India where there are large numbers of people belonging to various ethnic groups.
Pople are one of the few words used to denote an ethnic category, instead of an individual. The word “pople” comes from two words, “pium” meaning “a group” and “peoplum” meaning “a person.” Within this group are typically categorized into several sub Groups, depending on how they live their lives, their culture, and their language. While all persons considered to be part of the people are usually of Celtic descent, there are instances where someone outside of this group might be considered a pople.
In modern times, the concept of a social class has become a bit less accurate and more vague. Rather than being based on genetic criteria, most modern scholars now generally agree that people are grouped into six main classes, ranging from absolute strangers to fellow citizens of a country or ethnic group, depending on where they belong. While it is impossible to say whether all people are collectively grouped into classes of equal status, it is clear that classifies people according to their relationship to others, as well as how closely related they are to each other. A person who is highly related to another person of the same gender, for instance, will be considered a member of the same social class as that person, even if they have never met. People who belong to the same ethnic group will generally also be grouped together, despite not sharing the same genetic heritage.