"People" vocabulary usage distinction


I searched for Japanese terms related to the English word "people" and
discovered an impressive variety of terms to choose from! I'm curious about
the differences between each term and the usage of each term in context with
examples (beyond English dictionary definitions of course). Thank you!

* * *

人民｛じんみん｝

民族｛みんぞく｝

国民｛こくみん｝

民衆｛みんしゅう｝

人たち｛ひとたち｝

大勢｛おおぜい｝

人｛ひと｝

人々｛ひとびと｝

世間｛せけん｝

民｛たみ｝

人ごみ｛ひとごみ｝

他人｛たにん｝

庶民｛しょみん｝

みんな（さん）

各自｛かくじ｝

全員｛ぜんいん｝

何人｛なにびと｝




I don't mean to sound rude, but I think your question is too broad.
Nevertheless, I'll try to answer it.

[人民](https://ejje.weblio.jp/content/%E4%BA%BA%E6%B0%91): This term can refer
to “people in general”, “the body of citizens of a state or country”, “the
people who live in a nation or country”, and “a native or naturalized member
of a state or other political community”.

[民族](https://ejje.weblio.jp/content/%E6%B0%91%E6%97%8F): Even though this term
can be translated as “people”, it tends to be used to refer to “races” and
“ethnic groups”.

[国民](https://ejje.weblio.jp/content/%E5%9B%BD%E6%B0%91): This term can refer
to “people in general”, “the body of citizens of a state or country”, “the
body of people who are citizens of a particular government”, “the people who
live in a nation or country”, “a person who owes allegiance to that nation”,
and “a native or naturalized member of a state or other political community”.

[民衆](https://ejje.weblio.jp/content/%E6%B0%91%E8%A1%86): This term can be used
to refer to “people in general”, “people in general considered as a whole”,
and “the common people generally”.

[人たち](https://ejje.weblio.jp/content/%E4%BA%BA%E3%81%9F%E3%81%A1): This term
is 人 with the pluralizing suffix たち attached to it. This term would come in
handy if you have to explicitly state that there was more than one person.
According to Chocolate the native speaker, unlike 人々, 人たち is always preceded
by some modifier...as in 「あの人たち」「～で働く人たち」（×「そして人たちは～～」◎「そして人々は～」)

[大勢](https://ejje.weblio.jp/content/%E5%A4%A7%E5%8B%A2): This term can be used
to refer to “a large number of things or people considered together”, “a large
gathering of people”, and “a vast multitude”.

[人](https://ejje.weblio.jp/content/%E4%BA%BA): This term can be used to refer
to “a human being”, “any living or extinct member of the family Hominidae
characterized by superior intelligence, articulate speech, and erect
carriage”, “all of the living human inhabitants of the earth”, “the complex of
all the attributes--behavioral, temperamental, emotional and mental--that
characterize a unique individual“, “a human body (usually including the
clothing)“, “a grammatical category used in the classification of pronouns,
possessive determiners, and verb forms according to whether they indicate the
speaker, the addressee, or a third party”, “the force of workers available”,
“a male person who plays a significant role (husband or lover or boyfriend) in
the life of a particular woman“, “an adult male person who has a manly
character (virile and courageous competent)“, “the generic use of the word to
refer to any human being”, and “an ordinary man”.

[人々](https://ejje.weblio.jp/content/%E4%BA%BA%E3%80%85): This term can be used
to refer to “any group of human beings (men or women or children)
collectively” and “people in general”.

[世間](https://ejje.weblio.jp/content/%E4%B8%96%E9%96%93): This term can be used
to refer to “people in general considered as a whole”.

[民](https://ejje.weblio.jp/content/%E6%B0%91): This term can be used to refer
to “the body of citizens of a state or country”, “the people who live in a
nation or country”, “a person who owes allegiance to that nation”.

[人ごみ](https://ejje.weblio.jp/content/%E4%BA%BA%E3%81%94%E3%81%BF): This term
refers to “crowds of people”.

[他人](https://ejje.weblio.jp/content/%E4%BB%96%E4%BA%BA): The meanings attached
to this term include “other people” and “strangers”. This implies that it
refers to people who aren't friends or family members.

[庶民](https://ejje.weblio.jp/content/%E5%BA%B6%E6%B0%91): This term can be used
to refer to “people in general”, and “a class composed of persons lacking
clerical or noble rank”.

[みんな](https://ejje.weblio.jp/content/%E3%81%BF%E3%82%93%E3%81%AA): Even though
it can be translated as “people”, examples seem to use it to mean “everyone”.

[各自](https://ejje.weblio.jp/content/%E5%90%84%E8%87%AA): This term can be used
to refer to “a single organism”. Even though it can mean “everyone”, the
implication is that each person in the group is being considered.

[全員](https://ejje.weblio.jp/content/%E5%85%A8%E5%93%A1): The examples
associated to this term strongly imply that this term refers to individuals
making up a group.

[何人](https://ejje.weblio.jp/content/%E4%BD%95%E4%BA%BA): According to [goo
Dictionary](https://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/jn/164566/meaning/m0u/), 何人 has the
meanings of どういう人 (what kind of person/people), いかなる人 (any kind of
person/people), and 何者 (what kind of person/people). This implies that the
term refers to “people in general”.

Clearly, a number of these terms are synonyms. Now, I'm not a native speaker,
so I am probably completely off the mark here. I hope some native speakers can
help clear up a number of details!

