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While both person and people are of Latin origin, they are actually descended from different Latin words. Person comes from the Latin word persona, which originally referred to an actor's mask but came to mean "an individual human being". As for people, it comes from the Latin word populus meaning "group of people or nation". Both words entered the English language through French in the Medieval period (c. 500-1500 AD). Persons and people coexisted as the plural of person throughout much of the history of the English language. "By no means, sir: Time travels in divers paces with divers persons." Shakespeare, As You Like It (3.2.125) (1603) "I neither saw, nor desired to see any people…" Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe (1719) Starting in the Georgian Era (1714-1837), a sort of pseudo-rule developed, with some guides saying that persons should be used when preceded by a number (e.g. There were three persons), while people should be used to refer to an undistinguished mass of individuals (The people flooded out of the theatre). However, this “rule” never gained much traction and over time "people" has come to be the standard plural form of "person". By ANTIDOTE: Difference between People, Persons, and Peoples \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ The Nitty Gritty Law Library suggests that you not identify yourself as "a people of..." Instead, identify yourself as "one of the people of..." |