population

[ pop-yuh-ley-shuhn ]

noun

1. the total number of people inhabiting a country, city, or any district or area.
2. the body of inhabitants of a place:

   The population of the city opposes the addition of fluorides to the drinking water.

3. the number or body of inhabitants in a place belonging to a specific social, cultural, socioeconomic, ethnic, or racial subgroup: the working-class population.

   the Native population

   the working-class population.

4. Statistics. any finite or infinite aggregation of individuals, not necessarily animate, subject to a statistical study.
5. Ecology.
   1. the assemblage of a specific type of organism living in a given area.
   2. all the individuals of one species in a given area.
6. the act or process of populating:

   Population of the interior was hampered by dense jungles.

population

/ ˌpɒpjʊˈleɪʃən /

noun

1. sometimes functioning as plural all the persons inhabiting a country, city, or other specified place
2. the number of such inhabitants
3. sometimes functioning as plural all the people of a particular race or class in a specific area

   the Chinese population of San Francisco

4. the act or process of providing a place with inhabitants; colonization
5. ecology a group of individuals of the same species inhabiting a given area
6. astronomy either of two main groups of stars classified according to age and location. Population I consists of younger metal-rich hot white stars, many occurring in galactic clusters and forming the arms of spiral galaxies. Stars of population II are older, the brightest being red giants, and are found in the centre of spiral and elliptical galaxies in globular clusters
7. Also calleduniverse statistics the entire finite or infinite aggregate of individuals or items from which samples are drawn

population

/ pŏp′yə-lā′shən /

1. A group of individuals of the same species occupying a particular geographic area. Populations may be relatively small and closed, as on an island or in a valley, or they may be more diffuse and without a clear boundary between them and a neighboring population of the same species. For species that reproduce sexually, the members of a population interbreed either exclusively with members of their own population or, where populations intergrade, to a greater degree than with members of other populations.
2. See also deme

Other Words From

• popu·lation·al adjective
• popu·lation·less adjective
• repop·u·lation noun
• subpop·u·lation noun
• super·popu·lation noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of population¹

First recorded in 1570–80, population is from the Late Latin word populātiōn- (stem of populātiō ). See populate, -ion

Example Sentences

There are, still, 2 million civil service employees, a number that seems ginormous until you remember, as Moynihan told me, that that number hasn’t grown appropriately in relation to the population, economy, and other factors since 1960.

From Slate

Authorities in Delhi - which has an estimated population of more than 33 million - have already enacted measures aimed at tackling the pollution, including spraying roads with water containing dust suppressants.

From BBC

The fortification of flour will therefore help boost intake of folic acid across the population, and, indirectly, better protect unborn babies.

From BBC

The county’s total homeless population as of January, including sheltered and unsheltered people, was essentially unchanged from the year before, about 75,000.

From Los Angeles Times

For many, this argument over population and immigration had become a battle over whether Americans want to live in a diverse society.

From Salon

Related Words

• community
• culture
• people
• populace
• public
• society
• state