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Glite Dictionary
to depopulate

to depopulate

3 7.4
To reduce the number of people living in a place until few or none remain
  • verb
  • /ˌdiːˈpɒpjʊleɪt/
translation icon : despoblar
  • As agricultural mechanization depopulated the countryside, the Mission's communities shrank and then crumbled.
  • depopulated areas

Examples

  • Severe droughts depopulated the region, leaving behind abandoned farms and empty streets.

  • Have you ever thought that Earth needs to be depopulated in order to survive?

    Blog text (30)

  • The breeding colonies were depopulated to prevent further human infections.

    Academic text (2014)

  • Further into the future, if fertility rates do not rebound, many developed countries will depopulate at an astounding rate.

    Academic text (2002)

  • There are more than 30 countries that are depopulating much faster, including Spain, Portugal, Greece, Switzerland.

    Blog text (7)

  • But leading demographers agree that we are in no danger of depopulating our world anytime soon.

    Academic text (1998)

  • On our return, late in the summer of 1833, we found the valleys depopulated.

    Academic text (2000)

  • Though exact figures vary, large swaths of territory in the Southeast were depopulated.

    Academic text (2000)

  • The war caused many families to leave their homes, which depopulated the once crowded village.

  • Urban development has depopulated some rural towns, as people move to cities for work.

Synonyms

to desolate
vsto depopulate
1 7.2

Make a place empty and lifeless by destroying or leaving it

reduce the number of people living there until few or none remain

Antonyms

to populate
106 3.7

Fill a place with people or animals

How Depopulated

to depopulate
3 7.4
to abandon
773 3.1
to evacuate
344 4.1
to thin out
  • Informal
5 3.5

Surface Forms

depopulate infinitive
depopulated past
depopulated past participle
depopulating present participle
depopulates third person singular

Morphology

depopulate = populate (transparent) = de + populate

The prefix 'de-' has its regular privative sense here, so 'depopulate' is directly understandable as causing a place to lose population.

Etymology

Depopulate combines the prefix de- meaning 'remove' and populate, which is related to population ('people who live in a place'), so to depopulate is to remove people from an area or to make far fewer people live there.