population

[ pop-yuh-ley-shuh n ]
/ ˌpɒp yəˈleɪ ʃən /

noun

the total number of persons 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 population; the working-class population.
Statistics. any finite or infinite aggregation of individuals, not necessarily animate, subject to a statistical study.
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.
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

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH population

populace population populous

Example sentences from the Web for population

British Dictionary definitions for population

population
/ (ˌpɒpjʊˈleɪʃən) /

noun

Medical definitions for population

population
[ pŏp′yə-lāshən ]

n.

The total number of people inhabiting a specific area.
The set of individuals, items, or data from which a statistical sample is taken.
All the organisms that constitute a specific group or occur in a specified habitat.

Scientific definitions for population

population
[ pŏp′yə-lāshən ]

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.