population
Americannoun
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the total number of people inhabiting a country, city, or any district or area.
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the body of inhabitants of a place.
The population of the city opposes the addition of fluorides to the drinking water.
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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.
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Statistics. any finite or infinite aggregation of individuals, not necessarily animate, subject to a statistical study.
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Ecology.
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the assemblage of a specific type of organism living in a given area.
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all the individuals of one species in a given area.
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the act or process of populating.
Population of the interior was hampered by dense jungles.
noun
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(sometimes functioning as plural) all the persons inhabiting a country, city, or other specified place
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the number of such inhabitants
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(sometimes functioning as plural) all the people of a particular race or class in a specific area
the Chinese population of San Francisco
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the act or process of providing a place with inhabitants; colonization
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ecology a group of individuals of the same species inhabiting a given area
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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
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Also called: universe. statistics the entire finite or infinite aggregate of individuals or items from which samples are drawn
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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.
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See also deme
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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."
Vocabulary lists containing population
List 3
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Human Geography - Middle School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Santa Clara County’s Public Health Department urged unvaccinated people who may have been exposed to measles to quarantine to help prevent the virus from spreading rapidly through the population.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 14, 2026
Rose, a Michigan native, is part of a growing population of Americans who are working well past the typical age of retirement, which in the US is 67.
From BBC • Jun. 13, 2026
However, Cook noted that the study population was not fully representative of the broader public.
From Science Daily • Jun. 13, 2026
And all of this demand from a small sector of the population is likely to drive inflation even higher.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 13, 2026
The largest unmentioned and presumably excluded constituency was the black population, about 90 percent of which was enslaved.
From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
