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. d'epeupler. 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.
© Webster 1913.
De*pop"u*late, v. i.
To become dispeopled.
[R.]
Whether the country be depopulating or not.
Goldsmith.
© Webster 1913.