different between creature vs people

English

Alternative forms

• creäture (archaic, chiefly literary and philosophy)

Etymology

From Middle English creature in the original sense of “a created thing”, borrowed via Old French creature, criature, from Latin cre?t?ra, from cre?. Displaced native Old English ?es?eaft. Doublet of craythur and critter.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: kr?'ch?, IPA^(key): /?k?i?t???/
• (General American) enPR: kr?'ch?r, IPA^(key): /?k?i?t????/
• (archaic) enPR: kr?.??tyo?or, IPA^(key): /k?i??e?tj??/
• Rhymes: -i?t??(?)

Noun

creature (plural creatures)

1. A living being; an animal.
   • 1859, Ferna Vale, Natalie; or, A Gem Among the Sea-Weeds

     But what would be the sentiment of uppertendom, when it should be rumored that the beautiful young creature, of the proud Clarence Delwood's choice, had stooped so low, as to maintain herself by her own hands?

2. (sometimes derogatory) A human.
3. (now rare, religion) A created thing, whether animate or inanimate; a creation.
   • 1633, John Donne, "Sapho to Philænis":

     Thoughts, my mindes creatures, often are with thee, / But I, their maker, want their libertie.

   • 1646, Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica, I.10:

     the natural truth of God is an artificial erection of Man, and the Creator himself but a subtile invention of the Creature.
4. A being subservient to or dependent upon another.
   • 1988, James McPherson, Battle Cry for Freedom, Oxford 2003, p. 240:

     they, too, despite the appearance of being creatures rather than creators of the Union, could assert the prior sovereignty of their states, for each had formed a state constitution […] before petitioning Congress for admission to the Union.

Usage notes

• For an explanation of the specialised use of the alternative spelling creäture, see its entry's usage notes.
• Adjectives often applied to "creature": evil, living, little, mythical, poor, strange, beautiful, wild, rational, marine, social, legendary, good, mysterious, curious, magical, dangerous, mythological, bizarre, monstrous, unhappy, huge, lowly, ugly, happy, unique, odd, weird, demonic, divine, imaginary, hideous, fabulous, nocturnal, angelic, political.

Hyponyms

• See also Thesaurus:creature

Derived terms

• creatural
• creature comfort
• (from dialectal forms) critter, creetur, cratur, craythur

Related terms

Translations

References

• creature in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• creature in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Anagrams

• ecarteur

Italian

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ure

Noun

creature f

1. plural of creatura

Latin

Participle

cre?t?re

1. vocative masculine singular of cre?t?rus

Middle Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin cre?t?ra.

Noun

creature f

1. creature, being

Inflection

This noun needs an inflection-table template.

Descendants

• Dutch: creatuur

Further reading

• “creature”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
• Verwijs, E.; Verdam, J. (1885–1929) , “creature”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, ?ISBN

Middle English

Etymology 1

From Old French criature, creature, from Latin cre?t?ra; equivalent to createn +? -ure.

Alternative forms

• creatur, creatour, creatoure, creater, creture, crature, cryature, criature

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kr??a??tiu?r/, /kr??a?tiu?r/, /kr??a?tu?r/
• (reduced second syllable) IPA^(key): /kr???tiu?r/, /?kr???tiu?r/, /?kr??tur/
• (accented second syllable) IPA^(key): /kr??a?tiu?r/, /?kra?tiu?r/

Noun

creature (plural creatures)

1. Something that has been created; an entity or object.
2. A living being or creature; an animal or beast.
3. A human being (often as a term of self-abasement).
4. (rare) The whole world, the totality of existence.
5. (rare) The process of making or creation.

Descendants

• English: creature; critter; craytur
• Scots: creature, crayter

References

• “cr??t?re, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2019-02-18.

Etymology 2

Noun

creature

1. Alternative form of creatour

Old French

Etymology

Late Latin cre?t?ra.

Noun

creature f (oblique plural creatures, nominative singular creature, nominative plural creatures)

1. creature; being; entity

Descendants

• Middle English: creature
• French: créature

English

Alternative forms

• peeps, peops (slang)
• peple (obsolete)
• pipple (pronunciation spelling)
• ppl, ppl.

Etymology

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, and weary, and thirsty, in the wilderness –2 Samuel 17:29, King James Version, spelling modernized), the plural aspect of people is probably due to influence from Middle English lede, leed, a plural since Old English times (compare Old English l?ode (“people, men, persons”), plural of Old English l?od (“man, person”)). See also lede, leod.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?pi?p?l/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?pip?l/, /?pipl?/, [?p?ip??]
• Rhymes: -i?p?l
• Hyphenation: peo?ple
• Homophone: papal (some dialects)

Noun

people (countable and uncountable, plural peoples)

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

   Synonyms: (slang) peeps, lede, leod

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

     XXII people was in this parrish drownd.
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

   • 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

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

   Synonyms: kin, kith, folks

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

people

1. plural of person.

Usage notes

• 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, persons describes a finite, known number of individuals, rather than the collective term people. "Persons" is correct in technical and legal contexts.

Derived terms

Descendants

• Jamaican Creole: piipl
• Pijin: pipol

Translations

See also

• sheeple

Verb

people (third-person singular simple present peoples, present participle peopling, simple past and past participle peopled)

1. (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.

2. (intransitive) To become populous or populated.
3. (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, / […]

4. (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, [8]:

     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.

Usage notes

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

Derived terms

• peopler

Translations

References

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

Further reading

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

Anagrams

• Peploe

French

Alternative forms

• pipole

Etymology

Since 2000, named after People, an American weekly magazine that specializes in celebrity news, human-interest stories, and gossip.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pi.p?l/

Noun

people m or f (plural people)

1. (countable) A celebrity, celebrities, famous person(s).
   • 2004, Emmanuel Davidenkoff and Didier Hassoux, Luc Ferry: une comédie du pouvoir, 2002–2004 (Luc Ferry: A Comedy of Power, 2002–2004), Hachette, ?ISBN,

     Le novice en politique contre le mammouth « Éducation nationale ». Ça mérite la sympathie. Et puis c’est un people. Les gens aiment et détestent à la fois. Ils sont fascinés. Le bonheur sur papier glacé. Les vacances entre Saint-Trop’, la Martinique et Deauville.

     The political novice against the mammoth "National Education". That merited sympathy. Then, too, he was a celebrity. People loved and hated at the same time. They were fascinated. Happiness on ice paper. Vacations between Saint-Tropez, Martinique, and Deauville.

   • 2008, Martine Delvaux, "L’égoïsme romantique de Frédéric Beigbeder" ("Frédéric Beigbeder's L’égoïsme romantique (Romantic Egotism)"), in Alain-Philippe Durand (editor), Frédéric Beigbeder et ses doubles (Frédéric Beigbeder and His Doubles), Rodopi, ?ISBN, page 95:

     Oscar Dufresne est un people anti-people, un macho impuissant, un intellectuel qui ne dit rien d’intelligent, un faux sadique et un faux masochiste, un anti-autobiographe.

     Oscar Dufresne is a celebrity who is anti-celebrity, a powerless macho man, an intellectual who says nothing intelligent, a fake sadist and a fake masochist, an anti-autobiographer.

2. (uncountable, m) showbusiness, popular media that feature stories on celebrities and famous people (as represented by magazines such as People, (UK) Hello!, (France) Paris Match)

Usage notes

• The French noun people is frequently italicized as a loanword, as in the quotations above.

Synonyms

• (a celebrity): célébrité, personne connue, personnalité, personnage public

Derived terms

• pipolisation

Middle English

Noun

people

1. Alternative form of peple