population

[ pop-yuh-ley-shuhn ]

See synonyms for population on Thesaurus.com

noun

the total number of people inhabiting a country, city, or any district or area.
the body of inhabitants of a place: The population of the city opposes the addition of fluorides to the drinking water.

the number or body of inhabitants in a place belonging to a specific social, cultural, socioeconomic, ethnic, or racial subgroup: the Native populationthe working-class population.
Statistics. any finite or infinite aggregation of individuals, not necessarily animate, subject to a statistical study.
Ecology.
- the assemblage of a specific type of organism living in a given area.
- all the individuals of one species in a given area.
the act or process of populating: Population of the interior was hampered by dense jungles.

Origin of population

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

Other words from population

pop·u·la·tion·al, adjective
pop·u·la·tion·less, adjective
re·pop·u·la·tion, noun
sub·pop·u·la·tion, noun
su·per·pop·u·la·tion, noun

Words that may be confused with population

populace, population , populous

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use population in a sentence

When they invade new territory, populations are low, and the queen has limited mate options.
Mongooses, Meerkats, and Ants, Oh My! Why Some Animals Keep Mating All in the Family | Helen Thompson | December 29, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
In the past forty years, Earth has lost half of its wild animal populations.
Heed the Warnings: Why We’re on the Brink of Mass Extinction | Sean B. Carroll | November 30, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
Generally, the foreigner is a class of person often aligned with other vulnerable populations like widows and orphans.
Pope Bids Refugees to EU ‘Bienvenido’; Europe Says ‘Non’ | Candida Moss | November 30, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
The Yellowstone grizzly is one of the more carnivorous interior bear populations in North America.
What It Takes to Kill a Grizzly Bear | Doug Peacock | November 23, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
This allows the bats to spread the viruses to other bat populations in distant areas.
Bats’ Link to Ebola Finally Solved | Carrie Arnold | November 12, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST

Only a part of the village and country populations is sufficiently disposed to revolt.
The Pilgrim's Shell or Fergan the Quarryman | Eugne Sue
Already, in England, a good fourth of the population had been displaced; and what were these displaced populations to do?
Love's Pilgrimage | Upton Sinclair
There were no terms too harsh for the "Moniteur" to apply when speaking of the hostile court and the resisting populations.
The Life of Napoleon Bonaparte | William Milligan Sloane
More and more slowly Michael would glide along, loath to desert the dreaming populations of dusk.
Sinister Street, vol. 1 | Compton Mackenzie
Brandenburg saw its towns sieged and sacked, its country populations driven to despair, by the one party and the other.
History Of Friedrich II. of Prussia, Vol. III. (of XXI.) | Thomas Carlyle

British Dictionary definitions for population

population

/ (ˌpɒpjʊˈleɪʃən) /

noun

(sometimes functioning as plural) all the persons inhabiting a country, city, or other specified place
the number of such inhabitants

(sometimes functioning as plural) all the people of a particular race or class in a specific area: the Chinese population of San Francisco
the act or process of providing a place with inhabitants; colonization
ecology a group of individuals of the same species inhabiting a given area
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
Also called: universe statistics the entire finite or infinite aggregate of individuals or items from which samples are drawn

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for population

population

[ pŏp′yə-lā′shən ]

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. See also deme.

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