depopulate

  • 1Depopulate — De*pop u*late, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Depopulated}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Depopulating}.] [L. depopulatus, p. p. of depopulari to ravage; de + populari to ravage, fr. populus people: cf. OF. depopuler, F. d[ e]peupler. See {People}.] To deprive of… …

    The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • 2Depopulate — De*pop u*late, v. i. To become dispeopled. [R.] [1913 Webster] Whether the country be depopulating or not. Goldsmith. [1913 Webster] …

    The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • 3depopulate — index devastate, diminish, pillage Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …

    Law dictionary

  • 4depopulate — 1540s; see DE (Cf. de ) + POPULATE (Cf. populate). Perhaps from L. depopulatus, pp. of depopulari to lay waste, ravage. Related: Depopulated; depopulating. Earlier in same sense was dispeplen (early 15c.) …

    Etymology dictionary

  • 5depopulate — ► VERB ▪ substantially reduce the population of. DERIVATIVES depopulation noun …

    English terms dictionary

  • 6depopulate — [dē päp′yə lāt΄] vt. depopulated, depopulating [< L depopulatus, pp. of depopulari, to lay waste < de , from + populari, to ravage, ruin < populus, PEOPLE] to reduce the population of, esp. by violence, disease, etc. depopulation n.… …

    English World dictionary

  • 7depopulate — [[t]di͟ːpɒ̱pjʊleɪt[/t]] depopulates, depopulating, depopulated VERB To depopulate an area means to greatly reduce the number of people living there. [V n] The famine endured for generations, threatening at times to depopulate the continent.… …

    English dictionary

  • 8depopulate — UK [diːˈpɒpjʊleɪt] / US [dɪˈpɑpjəˌleɪt] verb [transitive] Word forms depopulate : present tense I/you/we/they depopulate he/she/it depopulates present participle depopulating past tense depopulated past participle depopulated to cause an area to… …

    English dictionary

  • 9depopulate — de|pop|u|late [ˌdi:ˈpɔpjuleıt US ˈpa:p ] v [T usually passive] to greatly reduce the number of people living in a particular area ▪ The disease could depopulate this whole region. >depopulation [di:ˌpɔpjuˈleıʃən US ˌpa:p ] n [U] …

    Dictionary of contemporary English

  • 10depopulate — /diˈpɒpjuleɪt/ (say dee popyoohlayt) verb (t) (depopulated, depopulating) to deprive of inhabitants, wholly or in part, as by destruction or expulsion. {Latin dēpopulātus, past participle, having laid waste} –depopulation /dipɒpjəˈleɪʃən/ (say… …