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Webster 1913 Edition

Population

Popˊu-la′tion

,
Noun.
[L.
populatio
: cf. F.
population
.]
1.
The act or process of populating; multiplication of inhabitants.
2.
The whole number of people, or inhabitants, in a country, or portion of a country;
as, a
population
of ten millions
.

Webster 1828 Edition

Population

POPULA'TION

,
Noun.
The act or operation of peopling or furnishing with inhabitants; multiplication of inhabitants. The value of our western lands is annually enhanced by population.
1.
The whole number of people or inhabitants in a country. The population of England is estimated at ten millions of souls; that of the United States in 1823, was ten millions.
A country may have a great population, and yet not be populous.
2.
The state of a country with regard to its number of inhabitants, or rather with regard to its numbers compared with their expenses, consumption of goods and productions, and earnings.
Neither is the population to be reckoned only by number; for a smaller number that spend more and earn less, do wear out an estate sooner than a greater number that live lower and gather more.

Definition 2024

Population

Population

See also: population and populâtion

German

Noun

Population f ‎(genitive Population, plural Populationen)

  1. (biology) population (collection of organisms)

population

population

See also: populâtion and Population

English

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.
    • 2013 May-June, David Van Tassel, Lee DeHaan, “Wild Plants to the Rescue”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3:
      Plant breeding is always a numbers game. […] The wild species we use are rich in genetic variation, […]. In addition, we are looking for rare alleles, so the more plants we try, the better. These rarities may be new mutations, or they can be existing ones that are neutral—or are even selected against—in a wild population. A good example is mutations that disrupt seed dispersal, leaving the seeds on the heads long after they are ripe.
    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.
    • 1883, Francis Galton et al., Final Report of the Anthropometric Committee, Report of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, p. 269.
      […] it is possible it [the Anglo-Saxon race] might stand second to the Scandinavian countries [in average height] if a fair sample of their population were obtained.
  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.‎

Related terms

Translations

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin populatio, populationis, from Latin populus.

Pronunciation

Noun

population f ‎(plural populations)

  1. A population

Related terms

Pronunciation

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