population

[pop-yuh-ley-shuh n] /ˌpɒp yəˈleɪ ʃən/
noun
1.
the total number of persons 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 of a particular race or class in a place:
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.
Origin
1570-80; < Late Latin populātiōn- (stem of populātiō). See populate, -ion
Related forms
populational, adjective
populationless, adjective
repopulation, noun
subpopulation, noun
superpopulation, noun
Can be confused
populace, population, populous.
Examples from the web for population
  • Not least because of its gigantic population, some observers have started to talk of Facebook in terms of a country.
  • He points out that population growth is not a purely independent factor; it is high wherever health and education are poor.
  • Driving the changes are environmental fluctuations and population growth.
  • About 80 percent of the population speaks French as a first language.
  • But a report published on February 1st announces an even bigger challenge for the economy: a population explosion.
  • Interspersed among the teens' narratives are the author's perceptive evaluations of this alienated population.
  • This has meant that population numbers for wild cheetahs are falling faster than for other big cats.
  • By 794, the population of Frankfurt was estimated to be around 1000.
  • The westward flow of population would have been far more sluggish.
  • The rich world's population is ageing fast, and the poor world is only a few decades behind.
British Dictionary definitions for population

population

/ˌpɒpjʊˈleɪʃən/
noun
1.
(sometimes functioning as pl) all the persons inhabiting a country, city, or other specified place
2.
the number of such inhabitants
3.
(sometimes functioning as pl) 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.
(statistics) Also called universe. the entire finite or infinite aggregate of individuals or items from which samples are drawn
Word Origin and History for population
n.

1610s, from Late Latin populationem (nominative populatio) "a people; a multitude," as if from Latin populus "a people" (see people (n.)). Population explosion is first attested 1953.

population in Medicine

population pop·u·la·tion (pŏp'yə-lā'shən)
n.

  1. The total number of people inhabiting a specific area.

  2. The set of individuals, items, or data from which a statistical sample is taken.

  3. All the organisms that constitute a specific group or occur in a specified habitat.

population in Science
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.
Encyclopedia Article for population

in human biology, the whole number of inhabitants occupying an area (such as a country or the world) and continually being modified by increases (births and immigrations) and losses (deaths and emigrations). As with any biological population, the size of a human population is limited by the supply of food, the effect of diseases, and other environmental factors. Human populations are further affected by social customs governing reproduction and by the technological developments, especially in medicine and public health, that have reduced mortality and extended the life span.

Learn more about population with a free trial on Britannica.com