(pl. ammey ha'aretz; Hebrew for "people of the land") A term used in the Hebrew Bible for citizens, or some particular class of citizens; in rabbinic literature, for persons or groups that dissented from or were uninstructed in rabbinic halaka and rigorous purity and tithing norms; it sometimes signifies the unlearned, sometimes is used condescendingly (boor); it was also used of the broad mass of Jewish people of the first century C.E., who cannot be categorized into any of the sub-groups of the time.