population

noun

pop·​u·​la·​tion ˌpä-pyə-ˈlā-shən 

1

a

: the whole number of people or inhabitants in a country or region

b

: the total of individuals occupying an area or making up a whole

c

: the total of particles at a particular energy level

—used especially of atoms in a laser

2

: the act or process of populating

3

a

: a body of persons or individuals having a quality or characteristic in common

b(1)

: the organisms inhabiting a particular locality

(2)

: a group of interbreeding organisms that represents the level of organization at which speciation begins

4

: a group of individual persons, objects, or items from which samples are taken for statistical measurement

populational

ˌpä-pyə-ˈlā-shnəl 

-shə-nᵊl

adjective

Examples of population in a Sentence

The world's population has increased greatly.

The city has experienced an increase in population.

There has been a sharp reduction in the bat population in this region.

the rural population of America

Recent Examples on the Web

Approximately 127 million people or 40% of the U.S. population live in coastal communities. —Devika Rao, theweek, 11 Nov. 2024

This Is the Most Beautiful Town in Colorado Put These Beautiful National Monuments on Your Must-See List In 1880 Leadville reached a peak population of 14,820, recorded in the city’s first official census. —James Dziezynski, Outside Online, 10 Nov. 2024

Currently about 65% of the U.S. population is in a state with legal betting. —Eben Novy-Williams, Sportico.com, 5 Nov. 2024

Republicans have been dominant with them in the last 20 years, but with the growing Latino and Asian American populations, white voters have been on a sharp decline as a share of the electorate since the 1990s. —Earl Carr, Forbes, 5 Nov. 2024

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Late Latin populātiōn-, populātiō "group of people, crowd," from Latin populus people entry 1 + -ā-, stem vowel of 1st conjugation verbs + -tiōn-, -tiō, suffix of verbal action

Note: This noun appears to have been formed from a verb populāre "to people, provide with inhabitants" that is not attested before the later Middle Ages. (At the corresponding entry in the Oxford English Dictionary, third edition, a verb populāre with the sense "to increase" is cited with the date "c550 in a British source," though there is no matching record in Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources.) Thesaurus Linguae Latinae has two citations for a verb populāre meaning "to show, reveal," in the Vetus Latina and Gregory of Tours, that the editor judged to be errors for prōpalāre, a derivative of classical prōpalam "in full view, openly."

First Known Use

1612, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing population

• population density
• population drift
• population explosion

Kids Definition

population

noun

pop·​u·​la·​tion ˌpäp-yə-ˈlā-shən 

1

: the whole number of people living in a country or region

2

: the act or process of populating

3

: a group of one or more species of organisms living in a particular area or habitat

Medical Definition

population

noun

pop·​u·​la·​tion ˌpäp-yə-ˈlā-shən 

1

: the whole number of people or inhabitants in a country or region

2

a

: a body of persons or individuals having a quality or characteristic in common

b(1)

: the organisms inhabiting a particular locality

(2)

: a group of interbreeding organisms that represents the level of organization at which speciation begins

3

: a group of individual persons, objects, or items from which samples are taken for statistical measurement