depopulate

Meaning

Verb

1. (transitive) To reduce the population of a region by disease, war, forced relocation etc.
2. (transitive) To remove the components from a circuit board.
3. (intransitive) To become depopulated, to lose its population.

Adj

1. (not-comparable, obsolete) Depopulated (sense 1).
2. (not-comparable, obsolete) Barren, devoid of inhabitants; utterly destroyed, devastated .

Synonyms

desolate

dispeople

ravage

devastate

lay waste

send away

unpeople

banish

decrease in population

depopulation

deport

exile

Translations

dépeupler

entvölkern

spopolare

ontvolken

despoblar

despovoar

despoblar

nüfusunu azaltmak

أخل سكان

nüfus azaltılması yoluna gitmek

εκκενώνω από κατοίκους

ερημώ

ερημώνω

μειώνω τον πληθυσμό

ερημώνομαι

Pronounced as (IPA)

/diːˈpɒpjəleɪt/

Etymology

First attested in 1531; borrowed from Latin dēpopulātus, perfect active participle of dēpopulor (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)). Compare depeople, French dépeupler, Italian spopolare, Spanish despoblar, Portuguese despovoar and Romanian despopora; by surface analysis, de- + populate. Participial usage of the adjective up until Early Modern English.