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

Now, Covid-19 demographics are changing again — shifting back into older populations.

From Vox

According to the UN, about 40 percent of the world’s population lives within 60 miles of an ocean.

From Singularity Hub 

The federal government will release a dashboard to help states map these populations, the playbook said.

From Washington Post

The United States would still be responsible for 11 percent of global deaths, despite constituting only about 4 percent of the world’s population.

From Washington Post

They are actually in a situation where they could afford to wait for the outcome of ongoing phase 3 trials, understand the safety and efficacy properly, without compromising their population.

From Vox

Even other men of color considered Revels a curious figure, for Mississippi had never had a large free black population.

From The Daily Beast

As of 2013, Jews make up 1.8 to 2.2 percent of the adult U.S. population.

From The Daily Beast

Furthermore, mixed race children are the fastest growing population in the country.

From The Daily Beast

Veterans are a small minority of the population, as well, serving the greater whole.

From The Daily Beast

For the first time in American history, rural America has been losing population.

From The Daily Beast

Nowhere can be found a region capable of supporting a larger population to the square mile than Lombardy.

From Project Gutenberg

This again is inexact, since there are no precise figures of population that cover the period.

From Project Gutenberg

Massed on the plateau above the mule-path, the whole population of the village stood to watch them down the steep descent.

From Project Gutenberg

In a population of angels a socialistic commonwealth would work to perfection.

From Project Gutenberg

Never had the black population of the city listened to or witnessed a more eloquent appeal.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

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