demographyn.
/dᵻˈmɒɡrəfi/, U.S. /dəˈmɑɡrəfi/ 1.
a. The study of human populations, esp. the study of statistics, such as numbers of births and deaths, the incidence of disease, or rates of migration, which illustrate the changing size or composition of populations over time.
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the world > people > science of mankind > [noun] > study of populations
demography1834
demographics1892
the world > relative properties > number > probability or statistics > [noun] > statistics > study of > demographics
birth rate1856
demography1880
natality1885
demographics1892
nuptiality1900
survivorship1949
1834 Trans. Provinc. Med. & Surg. Assoc. 2 149 Were it desirable to invent a new name, perhaps Medical Demography would be more appropriate, at least, when applied to a thickly-peopled district.
1880 Libr. Universal Knowl. V. 560 Two sections of general anthropology, viz.: 1, anthropology proper..2, demography, which..treats of the statistics of health and disease.
1882 Athenæum 16 Sept. 374/1 The fourth International Congress for Hygiene and Demography was held last week at Geneva.
1920 P. Vinogradoff Outl. Hist. Jurispr. I. 71 There are people who think that the study of man in societies by means of mass observation is entitled to rank as a distinct and separate science, which they call Demography.
1959 Amer. Jrnl. Sociol. 65 169 Demography, although a multiscience discipline, can contribute to the central interests of sociology.
1992 Cambr. Encycl. Human Evol. (1994) x. v. 422/1 The study of mortality statistics is the oldest branch of demography.
2005 C. Mann 1491 i. 15 New disciplines and new technologies were creating new ways to examine the past. Demography, climatology..and palynology (pollen analysis).
b. The composition of a particular human population.
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1837 Gentleman's Mag. July 72/1 These inscriptions throw light upon the Demography of Attica.
1900 J. Muir tr. G. Amneus in S. Konow & K. Fischer Norway: Official Publication for Paris Exhib. 86 Good and abundant material for the study of the demography of our country.
1926 Calif. State Board of Health Weekly Bull. 18 Dec. 178/1 Investigators and research workers, as well as individuals, who may desire detailed information concerning the demography of their local communities.
1984 R. Woods in R. Woods & R. Woodward Urban Dis. & Mortality viii. 179 These annual reports enable one to consider the changing demography and medical geography of the borough.
2011 Church Times 21 Oct. 22/2 Changes in demography, the welfare state, the housing market, and a range of public policies lie behind the wealth and political dominance of the ‘Baby Boom’ generation.
2. Biology. The scientific study of the size and composition of populations of plants or animals, esp. in terms of their ages or developmental stages. Also: the size and composition of such a population, esp. of a particular organism. Cf. population biology n. at population n.1 Compounds 2.
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1917 R. M. Harper in Sci. Monthly May 457 To determine the relative abundance of different species or structural categories... For this sort of investigation demography, meaning the study of population, would probably be a better term than sociology.
1974 Ann. Rev. Ecol. & Systematics 5 4083 The study of plant demography has never gained significant momentum within the science of ecology.
1977 G. Caughley Anal. Vertebr. Populations 227 The life and demography of the side-blotched lizard.
1997 Jrnl. Mammalogy 78 915 We analysed the demography of the fur seal population in Uruguay.
2006 J. Maschinski in D. A. Falk et al. Found. Restoration Ecol. iv. 64 Spatial and temporal variation in population demography is critical to the long-term population dynamics and persistence of a species across its range.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2014; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1834