demography
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of demography
Explanation
Do you know the population growth rate of your city? The education levels of everyone on your block? Then you're a fan of demography, the branch of sociology that studies human behavior by analyzing statistical information. The word demography comes from two ancient Greek words, demos, meaning "the people," and graphy, meaning "writing about or recording something" — so literally demography means "writing about the people." Like many branches of the sciences, demography began in the 19th century, when the general craze for cataloging information about the world really took off (think Darwin.) A common related word is demographics, referring to the raw statistical data that's used for analysis.
Vocabulary lists containing demography
Human Geography - Middle School
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Human Geography - High School
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We the People: Dem
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Yet feats of demography are only part of what “Revolver” bequeathed.
From Salon ● Aug. 5, 2026
Americans lately have been focused on artificial intelligence, but demography is likely to prove equally important.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 2, 2025
The group was founded in 2001 by a former UK ambassador, Lord Green, and an Oxford demography professor, David Coleman.
From BBC ● Nov. 12, 2024
Falling rents suggest either that “supply has finally caught up or that slower economic growth and/or population outmigration has weakened demand,” said Dowell Myers, a professor of policy, planning and demography at USC.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 12, 2024
He collected every book on Peruvian demography he could find.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
