depopulate
verb
[ diːˈpɒpjʊleɪt ]
• substantially reduce the population of (an area).
• "the disease could depopulate a town the size of Bournemouth"
Origin:
mid 16th century (in the sense ‘ravage, lay waste’): from Latin depopulat- ‘ravaged’, from the verb depopulari, from de- ‘completely’ + populari ‘lay waste’ (from populus ‘people’).
