Meaning & use
population
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Meanings
nouncountable
All the people who live in a particular place, or the number of them.
Grammar: Takes a singular verb: the population is growing. You say large or small, not many or few.
Patterns
- the population of somewhere
- a population of something
The population of the town is about ten thousand.
The country's population has doubled since 1950.
A growing population needs more housing.
nouncountablebiology
All the animals or plants of one kind living in an area.
Grammar: Used in biology: the wolf population.
Patterns
- a population of something
The local frog population dropped sharply.
Scientists track the bird population every spring.
A healthy tiger population needs large forests.
nouncountabletechnicalmathematics
In statistics, the whole group being studied, from which a smaller sample is taken.
Grammar: Contrasts with sample.
Patterns
- a sample from the population
The researchers took a sample from the whole population.
The average of the population differs slightly from the sample.
A survey must represent the target population.
nouncountable
The group of people of a particular type within a larger group, such as prisoners or students.
Grammar: Used with a modifier: the prison population.
Patterns
- the student population
The prison population has fallen this year.
The student population is mostly under twenty-five.
The city's elderly population needs better transport.
Word forms
| plural | populations |
|---|
Common combinations
- growing population
- A growing population puts pressure on water supplies.
- population growth
- Population growth slowed last decade.
- population density
- The city has a high population density.
- ageing population
- Japan has an ageing population.
- local population
- The local population welcomed the visitors.
- population of
- The island has a population of two thousand.
Synonyms and how they differ
- inhabitants
- Inhabitants lists the people living in a place and stresses them as individuals, while population often gives their total number.
- residents
- Residents implies people who officially live in a place, while population can include everyone.
- people
- People is general, and population is the count or group for an area.
- community
- Community stresses shared ties and interaction, not just numbers.
Word family
- populate verb
- to live in an area or fill it with inhabitants
- populous adjective
- having many inhabitants
- populace noun
- the ordinary people of a country
- overpopulation noun
- too many people or animals for the area
- depopulate verb
- to greatly reduce the number of inhabitants
Commonly confused: population or popularity?
population vs popularity
Popularity means being liked by many people, while population is the number of people living in a place.
Practice
Which sentence is grammatically correct?
Choose one answer.
Population takes a singular verb and is described with small or large. Many population is wrong because the noun is not a plural count.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “population”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.