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

These arachnids suck juices from the tomato plants and seemingly all of a sudden build large uncontrollable populations. —Tom MacCubbin, The Orlando Sentinel, 5 July 2025

The population has stopped shrinking and is slowly growing again as young families move back, according to locals. —Reem Amro, FOXNews.com, 5 July 2025

Still, despite the fertility rate ticking upward to 0.75 births per woman last year from 0.72 in 2023, that figure remains well below the 2.1 rate necessary to replace the population. —Micah McCartney, MSNBC Newsweek, 5 July 2025

In terms of population, France had approximately 69 million residents and Spain had just over 46 million in 2021. —Alex Ledsom, Forbes.com, 5 July 2025

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

Rhymes for population

• abdication
• aberration
• abjuration
• abnegation
• abrogation
• acceptation
• acclamation
• acclimation
• accusation
• activation
• actuation
• acylation

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