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population

American  

[pop-yuh-lay-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

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Etymology

Origin of population

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

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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

"He wanted to visit Incahuasi -- a place much higher up than Santa Cruz, where the population still speak Quechua, an Indigenous language of Peru," he told AFP.

From Barron's ● Nov. 14, 2026

That has started to change in recent decades as the population aged.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 14, 2026

"Simply comparing super agers with such a heterogeneous population makes it challenging to define what is critical in terms of resilient or vulnerable brain patterns."

From Science Daily ● Nov. 14, 2026

South Carolina, which has a substantial Black population and growing metropolitan areas, though tempered by regular influxes of retirees.

From Slate ● Nov. 14, 2026

In a TV studio with a large photo of the Capitol building as a backdrop, the president could broadcast messages to whatever was left of the American population.

From "Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown" by Steve Sheinkin

Aging populations are straining state-funded pension systems, the continent’s single biggest spending item.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 14, 2026

Its awkward borders twist to avoid the urban populations of Raleigh and instead pull in rural Southerners.

From Slate ● Nov. 13, 2026

Radiation therapy, for example, can reduce populations of beneficial oral bacteria while encouraging the growth of potentially harmful yeast, including Candida albicans.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 11, 2026

"So, any survival will be a success, and if we can continue to introduce more plants to some of the small, existing populations then we'll strengthen their ability to cope with our changing environment."

From BBC ● Nov. 10, 2026

When Dobzhansky harvested the two cages after four months, he found that the populations had changed dramatically.

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee

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