Standard Lemma guide

population

noun · 13 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˌpɒp.jʊˈleɪ.ʃən/
  • UK: /ˌpɒp.juːˈleɪ.ʃən/
  • US: /ˌpɑ.pjəˈleɪ.ʃən/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • New-Jersey: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -eɪʃən
  • CMU ARPABET: P AA2 P Y AH0 L EY1 SH AH0 N Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The people living within a political or geographical boundary.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • The population of New Jersey will not stand for this!

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

The people with a given characteristic.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: broadly

Examples

  • India has the third-largest population of English-speakers in the world.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

A count of the number of residents within a political or geographical boundary such as a town, a nation or the world.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • The town’s population is only 243.
  • population explosion; population growth

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

A count of the number of residents within a political or geographical boundary such as a town, a nation or the world.

The number of living cells in a pattern.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: cellular-automata, computing, engineering, mathematics, natural-sciences, physical-sciences, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

A collection of organisms of a particular species, sharing a particular characteristic of interest, most often that of living in a given area.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: biology, natural-sciences

Examples

  • A seasonal migration annually changes the populations in two or more biotopes drastically, many twice in opposite senses.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

noun

Meaning 6

A group of units (persons, objects, or other items) enumerated in a census or from which a sample is drawn.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: mathematics, sciences, statistics

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

7

noun

Meaning 7

The act of filling initially empty items in a collection.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: computing, engineering, mathematics, natural-sciences, physical-sciences, sciences

Examples

  • John clicked the Search button and waited for the population of the list to complete.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

8

noun

Meaning 8

General population.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Qualifier: prison

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

9

noun

Meaning 9

the act of populating (causing to live in a place)

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • he deplored the population of colonies with convicted criminals

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: colonization, colonisation, settlement

10

noun

Meaning 10

(statistics) the entire aggregation of items from which samples can be drawn

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • it is an estimate of the mean of the population

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: universe

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: collection, aggregation, accumulation, assemblage

Narrower terms: subpopulation

11

noun

Meaning 11

a group of organisms of the same species inhabiting a given area

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • they hired hunters to keep down the deer population

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: group, grouping

Narrower terms: overpopulation

12

noun

Meaning 12

the people who inhabit a territory or state

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • the population seemed to be well fed and clothed

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: people

Narrower terms: home front

13

noun

Meaning 13

the number of inhabitants (either the total number or the number of a particular race or class) in a given place (country or city etc.)

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • people come and go, but the population of this town has remained approximately constant for the past decade
  • the African-American population of Salt Lake City has been increasing

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: integer, whole number

History

Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin populatio (“a people, multitude”), as if a noun of action from Classical Latin populus, equivalent to populate + -ion. Doublet of poblacion.

Across languages

Translations

243 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: bevolking — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Albanian: popullsi — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Albanian: popullatë — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Arabic: سُكَّان (sukkān) — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܥܵܡܘܿܪܹ̈ܐ (ˁāmōrē) — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Armenian: բնակչություն (bnakčʻutʻyun) — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Azerbaijani: əhali — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Basque: biztanleria — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Belarusian: насе́льніцтва (nasjélʹnictva) — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Bengali: জনসংখ্যা (jonośoṅkha) — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Bulgarian: населе́ние (naselénie) — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Burmese: လူဦးရေ (luu:re) — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Catalan: població — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Cebuano: kamulupyohan — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Chinese Cantonese: 人口 (jan4 hau2) — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Eastern Min Chinese: 人口 (ìng-kēu) — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Hakka Chinese: 人口 (ngìn-khiéu) — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Chinese: 人口 (zh-min-nan) — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Chinese Mandarin: 人口 (rénkǒu) — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Wu Chinese: 人口 (6zen-kheu) — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Crimean Tatar: eali — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Crimean Tatar: nufus — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Czech: obyvatelstvo — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Czech: populace — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Danish: befolkning — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Dutch: bevolking — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Dutch: populatie — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Esperanto: loĝantaro — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Estonian: elanikkond — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Estonian: rahvastik — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Finnish: väestö — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • French: population — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Galician: poboación — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Georgian: მოსახლეობა (mosaxleoba) — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • German: Bevölkerung — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Bavarian German: Bevökarung — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Greek: πληθυσμός (plithysmós) — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Gujarati: વસ્તી (vastī) — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Hebrew: אוכלוסייה \ אֻכְלוּסִיָּה (ukhlusiyá) — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Hebrew: אוכלוסין \ אֻכְלוּסִין (ukhlusín) — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Hindi: जनसंख्या (jansaṅkhyā) — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Hindi: आबादी (ābādī) — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Hungarian: lakosság — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Hungarian: népesség — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Icelandic: fólksfjöldi — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Icelandic: íbúar — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Icelandic: mannfjöldi — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Indonesian: populasi — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Italian: popolazione — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Jamaican Creole: papilieshan — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Japanese: 人口 (jinkō) — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Javanese: cacah jiwa — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Kazakh: халық (xalyq) — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Khmer: ប្រជាជន (prɑɑciəcŭən) — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Khmer: ប្រជាគណន៍ (prɑɑciə kŭən) — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Korean: 인구 (in'gu) — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Kyrgyz: калк (kalk) — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Ladino: poblasyon — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Ladino: פובלאסיון (poblasyon) — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Lao: ປະຊາກອນ (pa sā kǭn) — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Latvian: iedzīvotāji — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Ligurian: popolaçión — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Lithuanian: gyventojai — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Luxembourgish: Bevëlkerung — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Macedonian: население (naselenie) — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Macedonian: популација (populacija) — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Malay: penduduk — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Malay: populasi — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Malayalam: ജനസംഖ്യ (janasaṅkhya) — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Māori: taupori — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Mongolian: хүн ам (xün am) — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Norman: populâtion — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Northern Altai: калык-ньон (kalïk-nʹon) — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Norwegian Bokmål: befolkning — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: befolkning — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: folkesetnad — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Occitan: populacion — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Old English: landwaru — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Old English: leodræ — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Old English: þeodscipe — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Old English: eorþwaru — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Oromo: uummata — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Pashto: نفوس (nofus) — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Pashto: اهالي (ahāli) — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Persian: چبیره (čabire) — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Iranian Persian: جَمْعِیَّت (jam'iyyat) — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Iranian Persian: اَهْلِیَّت (ahliyyat) — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Iranian Persian: نُفوس (nofus) — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Iranian Persian: مَرْدُم (mardom) — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Iranian Persian: اَهالی (ahâli) — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Plautdietsch: Bevelkjarunk — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Polish: ludność — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Polish: populacja — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Portuguese: população — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Romanian: populație — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Russian: населе́ние (naselénije) — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Serbo-Croatian: становни́штво — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Serbo-Croatian: попула́ција — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Serbo-Croatian: stanovníštvo — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Serbo-Croatian: populácija — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Sicilian: pupulazziuni — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Slovak: obyvateľstvo — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Slovak: populácia — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Slovene: prebivalstvo — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Slovene: populacija — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Southern Altai: калык (kalïk) — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Spanish: población — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Swedish: befolkning — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Swedish: population — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Tagalog: populasyon — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Tagalog: santauhan — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Tajik: маскун (maskun) — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Tajik: аҳолӣ (aholi) — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Tajik: мардум (mardum) — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Tamil: மக்கள்தொகை (makkaḷtokai) — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Tatar: халык (xalıq) — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Telugu: జనాభా (janābhā) — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Thai: ประชากร (bprà-chaa-gɔɔn) — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Tibetan: མི་ཚོགས (mi tshogs) — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Turkish: nüfus — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Turkish: popülasyon — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Turkmen: ilat — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Udmurt: улӥсьёс (uliśjos) — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Ukrainian: насе́лення (nasélennja) — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Urdu: آبادی (ābādī) — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Urdu: نُفُوس (nufūs) — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Uzbek: aholi — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Uzbek: xalq — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Uzbek: nufus — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Vietnamese: dân cư — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Wolof: way-dëkk — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Yiddish: באַפֿעלקערונג (bafelkerung) — all people living within a political or geographical boundary
  • Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܥܲܡܵܐ (ˁammā) — biology: collection of organisms
  • Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܥܵܡܘܿܪܹ̈ܐ (ˁāmōrē) — biology: collection of organisms
  • Armenian: պոպուլյացիա (populyacʻia) — biology: collection of organisms
  • Azerbaijani: populyasiya — biology: collection of organisms
  • Belarusian: папуля́цыя (papuljácyja) — biology: collection of organisms
  • Bulgarian: попула́ция (populácija) — biology: collection of organisms
  • Chinese Mandarin: 種群 /种群 (zhǒngqún) — biology: collection of organisms
  • Czech: populace — biology: collection of organisms
  • Danish: population — biology: collection of organisms
  • Dutch: populatie — biology: collection of organisms
  • Dutch: bevolking — biology: collection of organisms
  • Estonian: populatsioon — biology: collection of organisms
  • Estonian: asurkond — biology: collection of organisms
  • Finnish: kanta — biology: collection of organisms
  • Finnish: populaatio — biology: collection of organisms
  • French: population — biology: collection of organisms
  • Georgian: პოპულაცია (ṗoṗulacia) — biology: collection of organisms
  • German: Population — biology: collection of organisms
  • Hebrew: אוכלוסייה \ אֻכְלוּסִיָּה (ukhlusiyá) — biology: collection of organisms
  • Hebrew: אוכלוסין \ אֻכְלוּסִין (ukhlusín) — biology: collection of organisms
  • Hungarian: populáció — biology: collection of organisms
  • Hungarian: népesség — biology: collection of organisms
  • Japanese: 個体群 (kotaigun) — biology: collection of organisms
  • Khmer: ចំនួនប្រជាជន (cɑmnuən-prɑɑciəcŭən) — biology: collection of organisms
  • Korean: 개체군 (gaechegun) — biology: collection of organisms
  • Macedonian: популација (populacija) — biology: collection of organisms
  • Malay: populasi — biology: collection of organisms
  • Norman: populâtion — biology: collection of organisms
  • Norwegian Bokmål: bestand — biology: collection of organisms
  • Norwegian Bokmål: populasjon — biology: collection of organisms
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: bestand — biology: collection of organisms
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: populasjon — biology: collection of organisms
  • Polish: populacja — biology: collection of organisms
  • Portuguese: população — biology: collection of organisms
  • Russian: популя́ция (populjácija) — biology: collection of organisms
  • Serbo-Croatian: попула́ција — biology: collection of organisms
  • Serbo-Croatian: populácija — biology: collection of organisms
  • Slovak: populácia — biology: collection of organisms
  • Slovene: populacija — biology: collection of organisms
  • Swedish: population — biology: collection of organisms
  • Swedish: bestånd — biology: collection of organisms
  • Tajik: популятсия (populyatsiya) — biology: collection of organisms
  • Ukrainian: популя́ція (populjácija) — biology: collection of organisms
  • Uzbek: populyatsiya — biology: collection of organisms
  • Arabic: سُكَّانِيَّة (sukkāniyya) — number of residents in a given area
  • Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܡܸܢܝܵܢܹ̈ܐ ܕܥܵܡܘܿܪܹ̈ܐ (minyānē dˁāmōrē) — number of residents in a given area
  • Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܥܵܡܘܿܪܹ̈ܐ (ˁāmōrē) — number of residents in a given area
  • Armenian: բնակչություն (bnakčʻutʻyun) — number of residents in a given area
  • Chinese Mandarin: 人口 (rénkǒu) — number of residents in a given area
  • Dutch: bevolking — number of residents in a given area
  • Dutch: inwonertal — number of residents in a given area
  • Estonian: rahvaarv — number of residents in a given area
  • Faroese: fólkatal — number of residents in a given area
  • Finnish: asukasluku — number of residents in a given area
  • Finnish: väkiluku — number of residents in a given area
  • German: Bevölkerungszahl — number of residents in a given area
  • German: Einwohnerzahl — number of residents in a given area
  • Hebrew: אוכלוסייה \ אֻכְלוּסִיָּה (ukhlusiyá) — number of residents in a given area
  • Hebrew: אוכלוסין \ אֻכְלוּסִין (ukhlusín) — number of residents in a given area
  • Hindi: जनसंख्या (jansaṅkhyā) — number of residents in a given area
  • Hindi: मर्दुमशुमारी (mardumśumārī) — number of residents in a given area
  • Hindi: जनगणना (jangaṇnā) — number of residents in a given area
  • Hungarian: népesség — number of residents in a given area
  • Hungarian: lélekszám — number of residents in a given area
  • Japanese: 人口 (jinkō) — number of residents in a given area
  • Kazakh: халық саны (xalyq sany) — number of residents in a given area
  • Korean: 인구 (in'gu) — number of residents in a given area
  • Malay: penduduk — number of residents in a given area
  • Malay: populasi — number of residents in a given area
  • Malayalam: ജനസംഖ്യ (janasaṅkhya) — number of residents in a given area
  • Marathi: लोकसंख्या (loksaṅkhyā) — number of residents in a given area
  • Northern Altai: калык-ньонныг тоозы (kalïk-nʹonnïg toozï) — number of residents in a given area
  • Northern Altai: эл кӧби (el köbi) — number of residents in a given area
  • Northern Altai: улустынъ кӧби (ulustïnʺ köbi) — number of residents in a given area
  • Norwegian Bokmål: folketall — number of residents in a given area
  • Norwegian Bokmål: innbyggertall — number of residents in a given area
  • Norwegian Bokmål: befolkningstall — number of residents in a given area
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: folketal — number of residents in a given area
  • Portuguese: população — number of residents in a given area
  • Russian: населе́ние (naselénije) — number of residents in a given area
  • Sicilian: pupulazziuni — number of residents in a given area
  • Spanish: población — number of residents in a given area
  • Swedish: folkmängd — number of residents in a given area
  • Swedish: befolkning — number of residents in a given area
  • Tamil: மக்கள்தொகை (makkaḷtokai) — number of residents in a given area
  • Tibetan: མི་འབོར (mi 'bor) — number of residents in a given area
  • Turkish: nüfus — number of residents in a given area
  • Vietnamese: dân số — number of residents in a given area
  • Vietnamese: số dân — number of residents in a given area
  • Chinese Mandarin: 總體 /总体 (zǒngtǐ) — statistics: greater group of units from which a sample can be drawn
  • Danish: population — statistics: greater group of units from which a sample can be drawn
  • Dutch: populatie — statistics: greater group of units from which a sample can be drawn
  • Estonian: üldkogum — statistics: greater group of units from which a sample can be drawn
  • Finnish: perusjoukko — statistics: greater group of units from which a sample can be drawn
  • Finnish: populaatio — statistics: greater group of units from which a sample can be drawn
  • French: population — statistics: greater group of units from which a sample can be drawn
  • German: Grundgesamtheit — statistics: greater group of units from which a sample can be drawn
  • Hebrew: אוכלוסייה \ אֻכְלוּסִיָּה (ukhlusiyá) — statistics: greater group of units from which a sample can be drawn
  • Hebrew: אוכלוסין \ אֻכְלוּסִין (ukhlusín) — statistics: greater group of units from which a sample can be drawn
  • Hungarian: népesség — statistics: greater group of units from which a sample can be drawn
  • Icelandic: þýði — statistics: greater group of units from which a sample can be drawn
  • Icelandic: hópur — statistics: greater group of units from which a sample can be drawn
  • Icelandic: stofn — statistics: greater group of units from which a sample can be drawn
  • Icelandic: lýður — statistics: greater group of units from which a sample can be drawn
  • Italian: popolazione — statistics: greater group of units from which a sample can be drawn
  • Japanese: 母集団 (boshūdan) — statistics: greater group of units from which a sample can be drawn
  • Portuguese: população — statistics: greater group of units from which a sample can be drawn
  • Sicilian: pupulazziuni — statistics: greater group of units from which a sample can be drawn
  • Spanish: población — statistics: greater group of units from which a sample can be drawn
  • Swedish: population — statistics: greater group of units from which a sample can be drawn
  • Tagalog: sambagayan — statistics: greater group of units from which a sample can be drawn
Real reading context

population in complete knowledge articles