population

American  

[pop-yuh-ley-shuhn] / ˌpɒp jəˈleɪ ʃən /

noun

• populations
  plural

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.

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population British  

/ 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 called: universe.  statistics the entire finite or infinite aggregate of individuals or items from which samples are drawn

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population Scientific  

/ 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

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• repopulation
  noun
• subpopulation
  noun
• superpopulation
  noun
• populational
  adjective
• populationless
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• populations
  plural

Etymology

Origin of population

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

Explanation

Population means the number of people in a geographic area. The population of Wyoming is just shy of 600,000 people, but the population of California is nearly 40 million! This word can also be used for subgroups of people. If you plan to start an all-ages ping pong league, you'll want to determine the population of table-tennis enthusiasts in your hometown. Population can apply to groups of animals, too. Because of the worldwide decrease in the panda population, giant pandas are now an endangered species. The word population, like the word populace, derives from the Latin populus, meaning "people."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

population populations

"Every hospital is needed and Causeway Hospital continues to have a crucial role in providing appropriate care to our population," the spokesperson said.

From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026

"We recognise that the health needs of our population are constantly evolving and need to consider a dynamic approach to maintaining our health and social care services."

From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026

Under that model, immune cells from elsewhere in the body were not expected to migrate into the brain and become part of this population.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 14, 2026

This concern about the loss of farmland is a constant of the opposition to large projects that might bring growth to rural areas suffering from population declines, shrinking schools and empty houses.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

One of the oldest cities in Siberia, with a population of half a million, Tomsk, and the huge territory around it, had a serious MDR problem.

From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French

This trend is affecting not just the leaders but the populations of those countries.

From Slate ● Aug. 13, 2026

Instead, genetic studies of archaeological remains from Europe and the Americas have uncovered evidence of multiple treponemal diseases in ancient populations, emphasizing how complex the evolutionary history of these pathogens may be.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 12, 2026

As vulture populations continue to fall across the region, conservationists have been searching for communities where these birds are not hunted, feared or exploited.

From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026

Eco-lodges dot the area, a destination for hikers and boaters to view one of Alaska’s densest populations of brown bears.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026

Farming enabled populations to increase so radically and rapidly that no complex agricultural society could ever again sustain itself if it returned to hunting and gathering.

From "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari

Related Words

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