Private vs People - What's the difference?
private | people |
Belonging to, concerning, or accessible only to an individual person or a specific group.
* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-14, author=(Jonathan Freedland)
, volume=189, issue=1, page=18, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly)
, title= Not in governmental office or employment.
* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-19, author=(Peter Wilby)
, volume=189, issue=6, page=30, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly)
, title= Not publicly known; not open; secret.
* {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
, chapter=20 Protected from view or disturbance by others; secluded.
Intended only for the use of an individual, group, or organization.
Not accessible by the public.
Not traded by the public.
* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-22, volume=407, issue=8841, page=70, magazine=(The Economist)
, title= Secretive; reserved.
(US, of a room in a medical facility) Not shared with another patient.
The lowest rank of the army.
A soldier of the rank of private.
(in plural privates) A euphemistic term for the genitals.
(obsolete) A secret message; a personal unofficial communication.
(obsolete) Personal interest; particular business.
* Ben Jonson
(obsolete) Privacy; retirement.
* Shakespeare
(obsolete) One not invested with a public office.
* Shakespeare
A private lesson.
; a body of human beings considered generally or collectively; a group of two or more persons.
:
*ca. 1607: XXII people was in this parrish drownd. (Plaque recording the )
*
*, chapter=12
, title= *{{quote-book, year=1922, author=(Ben Travers), title=(A Cuckoo in the Nest)
, chapter=1
Here's rattling good luck and roaring good cheer, / With lashings of food and great hogsheads of beer.*{{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-01, volume=407, issue=8838, page=11, magazine=(The Economist)
, title= *{{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-29, volume=407, issue=8842, page=72-3, magazine=(The Economist)
, title= (plural peoples ) Persons forming or belonging to a particular group, such as a nation, class, ethnic group, country, family, etc; folk; community.
A group of persons regarded as being employees, followers, companions or subjects of a ruler.
*1611, (Old Testament), , 2 (w) 8:15:
*:And David reigned over all Israel; and David executed judgment and justice unto all his people .[http://etext.virginia.edu/etcbin/toccer-new2?id=Kjv2Sam.sgm&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/modeng/parsed&tag=public&part=8&division=div1]
*1952, (Old Testament), (Revised Standard Version) , Thomas Nelson & Sons, (w) 1:3:
*:The ox knows its owner, and the ass its master's crib; but Israel does not know, my people does not understand.
One's colleagues or employees.
*2001 , Vince Flynn, Transfer of Power , p.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 [it]."
*2008 , Fern Michaels, Hokus Pokus? , p.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.
A person's ancestors, relatives or family.
:
The mass of a community as distinguished from a special class (elite); the commonalty; the populace; the vulgar; the common crowd; the citizens.
:
* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-21, author=(Oliver Burkeman)
, volume=189, issue=2, page=27, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly)
, title= To stock with people or inhabitants; to fill as with people; to populate.
* 1674 , ,
To become populous or populated.
To inhabit; to occupy; to populate.
* , lines 7–8:
As nouns the difference between private and people
is that private is the lowest rank of the army while people is ; a body of human beings considered generally or collectively; a group of two or more persons.As an adjective private
is belonging to, concerning, or accessible only to an individual person or a specific group.As a verb people is
to stock with people or inhabitants; to fill as with people; to populate.private
English
Adjective
(en adjective)Obama's once hip brand is now tainted, passage=Now we are liberal with our innermost secrets, spraying them into the public ether with a generosity our forebears could not have imagined. Where we once sent love letters in a sealed envelope, or stuck photographs of our children in a family album, now such private material is despatched to servers and clouds operated by people we don't know and will never meet.}}
Finland spreads word on schools, passage=Imagine a country where children do nothing but play until they start compulsory schooling at age seven. Then, without exception, they attend comprehensives until the age of 16.
citation, passage=The story struck the depressingly familiar note with which true stories ring in the tried ears of experienced policemen.
Engineers of a different kind, passage=Private -equity nabobs bristle at being dubbed mere financiers. Piling debt onto companies’ balance-sheets is only a small part of what leveraged buy-outs are about, they insist. Improving the workings of the businesses they take over is just as core to their calling, if not more so. Much of their pleading is public-relations bluster.}}
Synonyms
* (done in the view of others ): secluded * (intended only for one's own use ): personal * (not accessible by the public ):Antonyms
* publicNoun
(en noun)- (Shakespeare)
- Nor must I be unmindful of my private .
- Go off; I discard you; let me enjoy my private .
- What have kings, that privates have not too?
- If you want to learn ballet, consider taking privates .
Synonyms
* (genitals) bits, private partsDerived terms
* in private * privacy * private language * private parts * private property * private stock * public-private partnershipStatistics
* 1000 English basic words ----people
English
(wikipedia people)Noun
The Mirror and the Lamp, passage=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,
citation, passage=“[…] 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.
Towards the end of poverty, passage=But poverty’s scourge is fiercest below $1.25 (the average of the 15 poorest countries’ own poverty lines, measured in 2005 dollars and adjusted for differences in purchasing power): people below that level live lives that are poor, nasty, brutish and short.}}
A punch in the gut, passage=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.}}
The tao of tech, passage=The dirty secret of the internet is that all this distraction and interruption is immensely profitable. Web companies like to boast about
Usage notes
When used to mean "persons" (meaning 1 below), "people" today takes a plural verb. However, in the past it could take a singular verb (see image).Synonyms
* (leod) * (persons belonging to a group) collective, community, congregation, folk, nation, clan, tribe, race, class, caste, club * (followers) fans, groupies, supporters * (ancestors or relatives) kin, kith, folks * (mass of a community) populace, commoners, citizenryDerived terms
* (the) beautiful people * man of the people * peeps * people person * people's army * people's democracy * people's republic * people's war * peoplehood * peoplelessSee also
* sheepleVerb
(peopl)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.