populate
Americanverb (used with object)
-
populates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
populated,
past participle, past
-
populating
present participle
-
to inhabit; live in; be the inhabitants of.
Almost 2 million people populate the immediate area of the factory and were exposed to potential carcinogens.
-
to furnish with inhabitants, as by colonization; people.
In the 1700s, the British government populated the colony of New South Wales with convicts.
-
Digital Technology. to fill (a digital document): She’s a fantastic photographer who has populated her blog with beautiful images.
The survey results will populate the spreadsheet as soon as they are submitted online.
She’s a fantastic photographer who has populated her blog with beautiful images.
verb
-
(often passive) to live in; inhabit
-
to provide a population for; colonize or people
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
outpopulateverb (used with object)
-
repopulateverb (used with object)
-
underpopulateverb (used with object)
-
superpopulatedadjective
-
unpopulatedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
populatesimple
-
populatessimple
-
have populatedperfect
-
has populatedperfect
-
am populatingprogressive
-
are populatingprogressive
-
is populatingprogressive
-
have been populatingperfect progressive
-
has been populatingperfect progressive
Past
-
populatedsimple
-
had populatedperfect
-
was populatingprogressive
-
were populatingprogressive
-
had been populatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of populate
First recorded in 1570–80; from Medieval Latin populātus, past participle of populāre “to populate, inhabit”; see people, -ate 1
Explanation
When people live in or occupy a country, city, or town, they populate it. It doesn’t always refer to people — bugs might populate your kitchen if you leave half-eaten food out. If your family lives alone on an island, you're the only people who populate it. You can also use this verb to mean "be present in," so you might say that vampires populate your favorite books, or that animated characters populate most of the movies you watch. Populate also means "fill in" in computing: "Will you populate that spreadsheet with data?" The Latin populus, or "people," is at the root of populate.
Vocabulary lists containing populate
The Origins of Civilization, Lessons 3–5
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Road Home
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
popul (people)
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
If so, the Saguaro could offer an important link between the large population of little red dots Webb sees at high redshift and the galaxies that populate the more recent universe.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 17, 2026
It wants to populate downtown with fun storefronts.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026
The private sector exists somewhere out there—the source of all that money—but its customs are foreign to the weirdo revolutionaries who populate the world Ms. Barker once made her career in.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
Of the 224 throughout the state, 140 populate central Ohio, dotting the city center through to the edges of suburban cities like New Albany and Dublin, according to Data Center Map.
From Salon ● Jul. 9, 2026
Oh, we can populate the dark with horrors, even we who think ourselves informed and sure, believing nothing we cannot measure or weigh.
From "Travels with Charley in Search of America" by John Steinbeck
One simple Google search of the laptop populates a collection of rave reviews from people who have gotten their hands on the device before it officially becomes available on Wednesday.
From Barron's ● Mar. 10, 2026
Ms. Doucet populates the book with sympathetic characters—the “real cement and steel of the Inter-Con”—conscientious and kind Afghans who keep the hotel going as regimes collapse, rulers change, mores alter.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 20, 2025
He populates his posts with a colorful cast of celebrities: actors like Tim Allen and Whoopi Goldberg or musicians like Jason Aldean and Kid Rock.
From New York Times ● Jun. 13, 2024
The director doesn’t see the evil that populates his scenes as uniquely Mexican but simply his interpretation of the only place he’s ever known.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 12, 2023
The reason lies chiefly in the type of individual who populates our prisons.
From Studies in Forensic Psychiatry by Bernard Glueck
For spring 2027, you created this fantastical garden populated by insects, beginning with a chrysalis and ending with the emergence of butterflies.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026
Md Yunus Ali, 80, whose home is a 15-minute walk from the plant, said opposition to building a nuclear facility in the densely populated area dates back decades.
From Barron's ● Oct. 7, 2026
The Australian Bureau of Meteorology said the phenomenon was caused by "severe" thunderstorms and that it was "very uncommon to see one in such a populated place".
From BBC ● Oct. 4, 2026
Jurisdictions similar to Doddridge County—sparsely populated with few immigrants—make up the majority of new recruits to the DHS task force program, which has become a cash cow for state and local law enforcement agencies nationwide.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
Her red-leather jacket had a subtle design to it—twisted branches of an apple tree populated with skeletal birds.
From "The Mark of Athena" by Rick Riordan
In other words, Jennifer Venditti’s nomination wasn’t just for placing Timothée Chalamet in “Marty Supreme,” it was for populating a world of 1950s characters around him.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 13, 2026
"Yes. There's a Catholic priest there who seems to be populating the whole country with redundant British and American organs."
From BBC ● Mar. 11, 2026
This is how the scores of docuseries and podcasts populating the genre transform actual horror into digestible content.
From Salon ● Feb. 13, 2026
Suddenly, most of the major groups of animals alive today -- including vertebrates which would eventually include humans -- evolved and started populating the world's oceans.
From Barron's ● Jan. 28, 2026
Because of their key role in establishing and populating a colony, settlers may be called colonizers.
From "An Indigenous People’s History of the United States" by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
