/ ˈpɒpjuleɪt; NAmE ˈpɑːp-/ verb [ vn ]
1.
[ often passive ] to live in an area and form its population
SYN inhabit :
a heavily / densely / sparsely / thinly populated country
The island is populated largely by sheep.
( figurative )
the amazing characters that populate her novels
2.
to move people or animals to an area to live there :
The French began to populate the island in the 15th century.
3.
( computing ) to add data to a document
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WORD ORIGIN
late 16th cent.: from medieval Latin populat- supplied with people, from the verb populare , from populus people.