repeople

Definition

1. Verb:
   • To populate again: "repeople" means to supply a place with inhabitants again, especially after a period of depopulation or abandonment. It involves restoring human presence to an area.

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • After the war, the government launched efforts to repeople the devastated villages. (To bring new residents back to empty settlements.)
  • The ancient city was repeopled by settlers from the south. (New inhabitants were introduced to the previously deserted location.)

Advanced Usage

• "to repeople a region": to actively resettle an area with new or returning population.

  • The plan to repeople the rural countryside involved offering tax incentives to farmers. (A deliberate policy to increase population in the countryside.)

• "to repeople the imagination": a figurative use meaning to fill something (like a concept or narrative) with new characters or ideas.

  • The author sought to repeople the fantasy genre with diverse heroes. (To reintroduce varied protagonists into a literary genre.)

Variants and Related Words

• Repeopling (noun): the act or process of populating again.

  • The repeopling of the island took several decades. (The process of resettlement.)

• Repeopled (adjective): having been supplied with inhabitants again.

  • The repeopled town now boasts a thriving community. (The town that was resettled.)

Synonyms

• Resettle: to establish people in a new place to live.
• Repopulate: to fill with inhabitants again (more common synonym).
• Colonize: to send settlers to a place and establish control (often implies a more systematic or political process).

Related Idioms

• No direct idioms: "repeople" is a formal and relatively rare verb, so it lacks common idiomatic phrases. However, it can be used in historical or demographic contexts.