US /ˈpɑː.pjə.leɪt/ UK /ˈpɒp.jə.leɪt/
verb Freq #43771

Meanings

  1. 1
    verb

    to live in a place or supply it with inhabitants

    Several bird species populate the wetlands throughout the year.

  2. 2
    verb

    to fill a list, database, screen, or other structure with data or items

    The program will populate the table with the latest results.

Thesaurus

Synonyms
1 verb · to live in a place or... inhabitsettlepeople
2 verb · to fill a list, database,... fillloadenter
Opposites
Word family
Forms populated
Derived forms populationpopulatedpopulator
Related forms peoplepopulousinhabit

Etymology

Borrowed from Medieval Latin populatus, associated with populare, meaning to people or fill with inhabitants, and ultimately with Latin populus, meaning people. The computing sense extends the idea of filling a place to filling a data structure.

Topics

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