(|)dē+ noun
Etymology: Middle English depopulacioun devastation, from Latin depopulation-, depopulatio, from depopulatus + -ion-, -io -ion
: the act of depopulating or the state of being depopulated:
a. archaic : devastation
the Danes … infested those parts with wide depopulation — John Milton
b. : reduction of population
the causes of depopulation are physical, political, and economic — G.B.Longstaff