Etymograph

English

population

Population comes from Late Latin populatio ‘a people, multitude’, and goes back to Latin populus.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpopulus1
  2. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEpopulatio1‘a people’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1883population1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English population
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1883, Francis Galton et al., Final Report of the Anthropometric Committee: “[…]it is possible it [the Anglo-Saxon race] might stand…”.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpopulusWiktionary, English population
  2. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEpopulatioWiktionary, English population‘a people’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1883populationWiktionary, English population. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1883, Francis Galton et al., Final Report of the Anthropometric Committee: “[…]it is possible it [the Anglo-Saxon race] might stand…”

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with population, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

through Latin populus

13 more relatives in the full family tree

No ads, ever.

Become a founding member, $29 onceI have a code

Explore everything descended from populus →

No ads, ever. This is how the app stays alive.

Become a founding member, $29 onceWear this word, $32Support the app

Today it means

noun The people living within a political or geographical boundary.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “population”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Latin populus / population