populate

verb

pop·​u·​late ˈpä-pyə-ˌlāt 

populated; populating

transitive verb

1

: to have a place in : occupy, inhabit

Strange creatures populate the deep ocean.

2

a

: to furnish or provide with inhabitants : people

… there were survivors, and their descendants populate the world today.

—Walter Alvarez

b

: to provide with members

Synonyms of populate

• inhabit
• people

Examples of populate in a Sentence

Immigrants began to populate the area in the late 19th century.

Strange creatures populate the ocean depths.

Recent Examples on the Web

For instance, the Bangladesh delta, one of the most fertile and densely populated areas in the world, is already experiencing problems, including salinity intrusion, rising sea levels and the loss of arable land. —Pintu Kumar Mahla, The Conversation, 3 Nov. 2025

Instead of having to copy and paste numbers over from a report, the numbers will automatically populate in the spreadsheet and calculate the votes each entity should have. —Rachel Royster, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 3 Nov. 2025

Picking this team, as currently populated, to return to the Stanley Cup Final for the third year in a row is unwise. —Allan Mitchell, New York Times, 2 Nov. 2025

The film follows a mission to colonize a distant planet, and takes place on a spaceship populated by an army of young people who will give birth to the generation that will ultimately do the colonizing. —Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 30 Oct. 2025

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Medieval Latin populātus, past participle of populāre "to provide with inhabitants,", derivative of Latin populus people entry 1

First Known Use

1578, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for populate

• abdicate
• abrogate
• acetate
• activate
• actuate
• adsorbate
• aggravate
• agitate
• alginate
• alienate
• allocate
• amputate

Kids Definition

populate

verb

pop·​u·​late ˈpäp-yə-ˌlāt 

populated; populating

1

: to have a place in : occupy, inhabit

2

: to provide with inhabitants : people