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.
"I think we're stagnating too much and we need to develop the economy," Aia Laucina, a 49-year-old employee of the European Commission, told AFP, adding the country needs "to work on demography".
From Barron's ● Oct. 3, 2026
Many investors will react with incredulity, pointing to Japan as Exhibit A of why demography is destiny.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 11, 2026
Investors are all wrong about demography, a new study finds.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026
Yet feats of demography are only part of what “Revolver” bequeathed.
From Salon ● Aug. 5, 2026
Henige stumbled across a seminar on Indian demography taught by Denevan in 1976.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.