depopulate

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   to greatly reduce or remove the population of a place

   War and famine depopulated several villages along the frontier.

2. 2
   verb

   to lose most or all of one's population

   The remote district began to depopulate as younger residents moved away.

Formed from de- + populate, perhaps influenced by Latin depopulatus, the past participle of depopulari, meaning to lay waste or ravage. The modern sense narrows that older idea of devastation to removing or losing inhabitants.

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