population
po·pu·la·tion/ˌpɑ.pjəˈleɪ.ʃən/noun
population is spelled P-O-P-U-L-A-T-I-O-N: 10 letters and 4 syllables (po·pu·la·tion). It appears 102 times per million words in written English, the 1,048th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, population means “The people living within a political or geographical boundary” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of population is populations.
How many letters and syllables are in population?
| Letters | 10: P-O-P-U-L-A-T-I-O-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4: po·pu·la·tion |
| In writing | 102 times per million words; the 1,048th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is population?
Population appears 102 times per million words in written English, the 1,048th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce population?
- UK /ˌpɒp.jʊˈleɪ.ʃən/
- UK /ˌpɒp.juːˈleɪ.ʃən/
- US /ˌpɑ.pjəˈleɪ.ʃən/
Population has 4 syllables, split po·pu·la·tion in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-population.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Simplificationalizer-population.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with population?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as population from its last stressed vowel (/eɪʃən/):
- situation
- association
- administration
- operation
- organization
- application
- location
- generation
- foundation
- conversation
- investigation
- communication
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of population
- populations plural
- pop'n
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does population mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The people living within a political or geographical boundary.
The population of New Jersey will not stand for this!
- 2
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.
- 4
The number of living cells in a pattern.
- 5
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.
- 6
A group of units (persons, objects, or other items) enumerated in a census or from which a sample is drawn.
- 7
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.
- 8
General population.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate population?
Wiktionary records 2 abbreviations of population: pop'n, pop..
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Population in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | population |
| German | Bevölkerung , Population , Bevölkerungszahl, Einwohnerzahl , Grundgesamtheit |
| Portuguese | população |
| Spanish | población |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does population come from?
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.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).