populate
/ˈpɒp.jʊˌleɪt/US/ˈpɑ.pjəˌleɪt/
populate verb: to supply with inhabitants; to people.
Verb
populate (third-person singular simple present populates, present participle populating, simple past and past participle populated)
- To supply with inhabitants; to people.
- To live in; to inhabit.
- To increase in number; to breed.
- To fill initially empty items in a collection.
- John clicked the Search button and waited for the list to populate.
- Clicking the refresh button will populate the grid.
- To fill initially empty slots or sockets on a circuit board or similar.
Adjective
populate (comparative more populate, superlative most populate)
- populous
- Now, a famous King, and ſtrengthened with a Prince of ſingular expectation, and in the prime of his years, owner of the entire Iſle of Britain, enjoying Ireland populate and quiet, and infinitely more ſupported by Confederates of the Low-Countries, Denmarke, divers of the Princes of Germany and...a. 1626, Francis Bacon, Bacon Verulam, Viscount St. Albans, “Notes of a Speech, concerning a War with Spaine”, in Letters, Memoirs, Parliamentary Affairs, State Papers, &c., London: Robert Stephens...
populate meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Bengali and Malayalam
populate in Tamil
- மக்களைக் குடியேற்று, குடியேற்றம், பரப்புதல், குடியேற்றுதல், எல்லோருக்கும் தெரிவித்தல்
populate in Urdu
- آباد کرنا
populate in Bengali
- জনবহুল করা
populate in Malayalam
- കുടിപാർപ്പിക്കുക, കുടിയേറ്റുക, പാർപ്പിക്കുക
More languagesFewer languages
- populate in Kannada
- ನೆಲೆಸು, ನೆಲೆಸಿಸು, ನಿವಾಸವನ್ನಾಗಿ ಮಾಡಿಕೊಳ್ಳು, ವಾಸಿಸು
- populate in Pashto
- ودانول wadānawəl
- populate in Malay
- memperpenduduk, diami
- populate in Persian
- اسکاندن, سکنادن, سکناگزیدن
Examples of populate in a sentence
- The cave was populated by albino scorpions, blind salamanders, and other troglodytes.
- The Homestead Acts allowed millions of settlers to populate unclaimed land and manifest destiny out on the frontier.
- The forest was densely populated with trees.
Antonyms of populate
Forms of populate
| Verb | |
|---|---|
| third-person singular present | populates |
| present participle | populating |
| past participle | populated |
| past | populated |
| Adjective | |
| comparative | more populate |
| superlative | most populate |
Origin of populate
Borrowed from Medieval Latin populātus, past participle of populor (“populate”), from Latin populus (“people”).
Words formed from populate
Questions about populate
- What does populate mean?
- Populate means to supply with inhabitants; to people.
- What is populate in Tamil?
- Populate in Tamil is மக்களைக் குடியேற்று, குடியேற்றம், பரப்புதல். See Populate meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is populate?
- Populate can be a verb or an adjective.
- How do you pronounce populate?
- Populate is pronounced /ˈpɒp.jʊˌleɪt/ (UK).
- What is the past tense of populate?
- The past tense of populate is populated.
Words near populate in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: populate (page history and authors); populate (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); populate (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); populate (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); populate (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); populate (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-populate.wav.
Cite this entry: “populate.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/populate. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.