populate
verb
Simple meaning
To supply with inhabitants.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
pahpyuhlaytSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈpɑpjəleɪt
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
transitive
To supply with inhabitants; to people.
Fill with inhabitants
“Populate the forest with deer and wild boar for hunting.”
transitive
To live in; to inhabit.
intransitive
To increase in number; to breed.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C1 · Advanced
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Typical Use
- Varies by meaning
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More ways to use populate
- “Populate the forest with deer and wild boar for hunting.”verb
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Common Patterns and Combinations
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Word Family
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Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A geographical area constituting a city or town.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: to supply with inhabitants
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.