populate

[ pop-yuh-leyt ]

/ ˈpɒp yəˌleɪt /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR populate ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object), pop·u·lat·ed, pop·u·lat·ing.

to inhabit; live in; be the inhabitants of.

to furnish with inhabitants, as by colonization; people.

Nearby words

Origin of populate

1570–80; < Medieval Latin populātus, past participle of populāre to inhabit. See people, -ate¹

Related forms

out·pop·u·late, verb (used with object), out·pop·u·lat·ed, out·pop·u·lat·ing.re·pop·u·late, verb (used with object), re·pop·u·lat·ed, re·pop·u·lat·ing.su·per·pop·u·lat·ed, adjectiveun·der·pop·u·late, verb (used with object), un·der·pop·u·lat·ed, un·der·pop·u·lat·ing.

un·pop·u·lat·ed, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for populated

Our American tendency to see the world as populated by like-minded souls is never productive.
Does Obama Remember He's President?|Stuart Stevens|September 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Nigeria, the most populated country in Africa, has shut down and quarantined the hospital in Lagos where the man died.
CDC Calls Ebola Outbreak ‘Forest Fire’|Abby Haglage|July 28, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Once upon a time, the GOP was populated by theologically moderate Episcopalians and Presbyterians.
Sam’s Club Republicans Vs. the Tea Party|Peter Beinart|October 29, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Sleepy Hollow is populated by a bunch of lovable, strange heroes.
‘Sleepy Hollow’ Is TV’s Craziest, Most Over-the-Top New Show ... And You Should Watch It|Amy Zimmerman|October 8, 2013|DAILY BEAST

Dagestan, the biggest and most populated republic of the North Caucasus, is a place where insurgents often strike.
The Threat Against the Olympics|Anna Nemtsova|September 18, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Who were the people who populated this usually uninhabited, inhospitable place so densely and in so strange a manner?
Arachne, Complete|Georg Ebers
The ridge commanded a far view, and was said to be a metropolis among the snakes that populated the region.
Skyrider|B. M. Bower
The world must be populated, though for what reason one does not see.
He Knew He Was Right|Anthony Trollope
The caves were furnished with stones and twigs, and populated with earwigs or any creeping thing to be found and housed there.
The Playwork Book|Ann Macbeth
Love-matches that had populated the adjoining hamlet had been made up there between reaping and carrying.
Jude the Obscure|Thomas Hardy

British Dictionary definitions for populated

populate

/ (ˈpɒpjʊˌleɪt) /

verb (tr)

(often passive) to live in; inhabit

to provide a population for; colonize or people

Word Origin for populate

C16: from Medieval Latin populāre to provide with inhabitants, from Latin populus people

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012