Etymology

populate

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Today it means: To supply with inhabitants; to people. Full definition →

Medieval Latin populātus ← Latin populus
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The story

  1. Latin · derived frompopulus“people”
  2. Medieval Latin · borrowed frompopulātus
  3. English todaypopulate

Borrowed from Medieval Latin populātus, past participle of populor (“populate”), from Latin populus (“people”).

Words from the same roots

Latinpopulus all →

peoplepopulationpueblopoplarpopulacepoblacionpopplepopulicidepopulin

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.