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

Years of conflict and a highly mobile population have added to the country's challenges in controlling the spread of the disease.

From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026

The company has indicated the site will create 400 full-time jobs and hundreds more in construction—a surge in a county with a working-age population of 11,000, McHugh said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026

More than 70 percent of its population of 22 million lives on less than $3 a day, according to the World Bank, despite the country also having significant potential in cobalt, nickel and manganese.

From Barron's ● Aug. 16, 2026

Mexican Americans, who make up the largest Hispanic population in the United States, also have particularly high rates of diabetes, obesity and dyslipidemia, conditions that can increase dementia risk.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 16, 2026

In the fourth national census, the U.S. population has reached 9,638,453 with a black population of 1,777,254.

From "In the Shadow of Liberty" by Kenneth C. Davis

Their closest living populations are now nearly 2,500 km away in southern Mexico, indicating that the species once occupied a dramatically different geographic range.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 16, 2026

Traditional approaches to studying cause-and-effect relationships are often not possible when investigating populations and ecosystems, which are large, complex and messy.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026

Among them is Elizabeth Meek, who worked for the federal government for two decades, helping oversee biomedical research and track global infectious-disease spread in animal populations.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026

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

From Slate ● Aug. 13, 2026

We have seen that large or dense populations arise only under conditions of food production, or at least under exceptionally productive conditions for hunting-gathering.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

Related Words

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