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Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin populatio (a people, multitude), as if a noun of action from Classical Latin populus, from Old Latin populus (since mid-2nd c. BC), from earlier poplus, from even earlier poplos (attested already since early 5th c. BC[1]), from Proto-Italic *poplos (army), further origin unknown; perhaps from Etruscan or from the root of pleō.

Pronunciation

  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key)/ˌpɒpjʊˈleɪʃən/
  • IPA(key)/pɒpjuːˈleɪʃən/

Noun

population (plural populations)

  1. The people living within a political or geographical boundary.
    The population of New Jersey will not stand for this!
  2. (by extension) The people with a given characteristic.
    India has the third-largest population of English-speakers in the world.
  3. A count of the number of residents within a political or geographical boundary such as a town, a nation or the world.
    The town’s population is only 243.
    population explosion;  population growth
  4. (biology) A collection of organisms of a particular species, sharing a particular characteristic of interest, most often that of living in a given area.
    A seasonal migration annually changes the populations in two or more biotopes drastically, many twice in opposite senses.
  5. (statistics) A group of units (persons, objects, or other items) enumerated in a census or from which a sample is drawn.
  6. (computing) The act of filling initially empty items in a collection.
    John clicked the Search button and waited for the population of the list to complete.
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