people [ME] People is from Anglo-Norman French poeple, from Latin populus ‘populace’, also the source of words such as population [M16th]; populace [L16th]; and popular [LME] originally ‘prevalent among the general public’: with ‘liked and admired’ early 17th century. The phrase of all people expressing disbelief about somebody dates from the 1700s; the capitalized form in the phrase the People referring in US legal contexts to the State prosecution the People versus…dates from the early 19th century. See also public.