DEPOPULATE
depopulate, desolate
(verb) reduce in population; “The epidemic depopulated the countryside”
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Verb
depopulate (third-person singular simple present depopulates, present participle depopulating, simple past and past participle depopulated)
(transitive) To reduce the population of a region by disease, war, forced relocation etc.
(transitive, electronics) To remove the components from a circuit board.
(intransitive) To become depopulated, to lose its population.
Adjective
depopulate (not comparable)
(obsolete) Depopulated.
Source: Wiktionary
De*pop"u*late, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Depopulated; p. pr. & vb. n. Depopulating.] Etym: [L. depopulatus, p. p. of depopulari to ravage; de- + populari to ravage, fr. populus people: cf. OF. depopuler, F. dépeupler. See People.]
Definition: 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.
Note: 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.
De*pop"u*late, v. i.
Definition: To become dispeopled. [R.] Whether the country be depopulating or not. Goldsmith.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
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WHOLE
(noun) an assemblage of parts that is regarded as a single entity; “how big is that part compared to the whole?”; “the team is a unit”
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