Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Italic *poplos Old Latin populus Latin populus Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-der.? Proto-Italic *-ālis Latin -ālis Latin -āris Latin populārislbor. Old French populairebor. ▲ Latin populārisbor. Middle English populer English popular Inherited from Middle English populer, borrowed from Old French populaire, or borrowed from Latin populāris.

Common among the general public; generally accepted.
“Contrary to popular misconception, MacArthur Park is not the worst song ever written.”
“Recent evidence demonstrates that caffeine addiction is becoming popular worldwide.”
Concerning the people; public.
Pertaining to or deriving from the people or general public.
“At the coming of Calvin thither, the form of their civil regiment was popular, as it continueth at this day: neither king, nor duke, nor nobleman of any authority or power over them, but officers chosen by the people out of themselves, to order all things with public consent.”
“Luther in popular memory had become a saint, his picture capable of saving houses from burning down, if it was fixed to the parlour wall.”
Of low birth, not noble; vulgar, plebian.
“Popular and shallow-headed mindes, cannot perceive the grace or comelinesse, nor judge of a smooth and quaint discourse.”
Aimed at ordinary people, as opposed to specialists etc.; intended for general consumption.
“As a work of popular science it is exemplary: the focus may be the numbers, but most of the mathematical legwork is confined to the appendices and the accompanying commentary is amusing and witty, as well as informed.”
Cultivating the favour of the common people.
“Such popular humanity is treason.”
Liked by many people; generally pleasing, widely admired.
“The popular late Middle Ages fictional character Robin Hood, dressed in green to symbolize the forest, dodged fines for forest offenses and stole from the rich to give to the poor. But his appeal was painfully real and embodied the struggle over wood.”
“They might have split 24 years ago, but the Smiths remain as popular as ever, and not just among those who remember them first time around.”
Adapted to the means of the common people; cheap.

noun

A person who is popular, especially at a school.
“To pass time, Nicole (Tammy Lynn Michaels), the most vicious of the populars, decides they should play a little game. Earlier that day, in their feminist studies class, the women were discussing Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, a novel ...”
An inexpensive newspaper with wide circulation.
“Serious newspapers boomed; the populars became tabloid supplements to television, with the television schedules and related features increasingly the core of the newspaper.”
A member of the Populares
“[...] when their ambassadors were come from Samos, and that they saw not only the populars, but also some others of their own party thought trusty before, to be now changed.”

popular

adjective

Wiktionary

adj

noun