peoplehood

noun

peo·​ple·​hood ˈpē-pəl-ˌhu̇d How to pronounce peoplehood (audio)
1
: the quality or state of constituting a people
2
: the awareness of the underlying unity that makes the individual a part of a people

Examples of peoplehood in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web The pogroms against Jews in Eastern Europe and other developments, including the 1967 War, moved Reform Jews to strongly emphasize the need to defend Israel as essential to Jewish peoplehood and self-determination. Michelle Boorstein, Washington Post, 17 Dec. 2023 By the time Zelensky came of age, three or four generations of Soviet Jews had experienced their Jewish identity as a hollow thing, nothing but a black mark on a passport and a sense of peoplehood born of exclusion and a second-class status. Gal Beckerman, The Atlantic, 27 Feb. 2022 There are five main injuries of slavery that still affect the Black community today including peoplehood and nationhood; education; health; criminal punishment; and wealth and poverty, according to NCOBRA. Maya Brown, CNN, 26 Feb. 2022 Others, including many anti-Zionists, refuse to recognize Judaism’s peoplehood dimension altogether, saying Jews should be regarded strictly as members of a religion. Cnaan Liphshiz, sun-sentinel.com, 3 Mar. 2021 Secular American Jews, however, have always walked a fine line in their sense of peoplehood. Ethan Bronner, The New York Review of Books, 12 Mar. 2020 Yet the connection of Jews to their countries, peoplehood and a distinct land predates the era of rights. WSJ, 11 May 2018 Even in Hillel’s time, however, Jewishness had three legs: peoplehood, religion and culture. Dominic Green, WSJ, 30 Mar. 2018 The organization is rooted in traditional values of justice (tzedek), repairing the world (tikkun olam), acts of loving kindness (gemilut hesed), and Jewish peoplehood (klal yisrael). Roxanne Washington, cleveland.com, 16 Feb. 2018

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'peoplehood.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1899, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of peoplehood was circa 1899

Dictionary Entries Near peoplehood

Cite this Entry

“Peoplehood.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/peoplehood. Accessed 30 Oct. 2024.

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