DEPOPULATE

depopulate. depopulate, spoile, or wast

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depopulate. Depopulate, v.t. to lay waste, destroy, unpeople

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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. dépeupler. See People.]] To deprive of inhabitants, whether by death or by expulsion; to reduce greatly the populousness of; to dispeople; to unpeople. Where is this viper, That would depopulate the city? Shak. ☞ It is not synonymous with laying waste or destroying, being limited to the loss of inhabitants; as, an army or a famine may depopulate a country. It rarely expresses an entire loss of inhabitants, but often a great diminution of their numbers; as, the deluge depopulated the earth.