populate
/ˈpɒp.jʊˌleɪt/
"populate" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“populate” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #34,228 in English word frequency and used as a verb.
- #34,228
- frequency rank, English
- 8
- letters
- 11
- tracked misspellings
- 3
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To supply with inhabitants; to people.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | populate |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ˈpɒp.jʊˌleɪt/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #34,228 |
| Misspellings tracked | 11 |
| Confusable pairs | 3 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “populate” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for populate is 8 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈpɒp.jʊˌleɪt/. Corpus data places it at rank #34,228 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for populate, with forms such as "oppulate", "popluate", and "poppulate". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 3 confusable-pair relationships, "postulate", "popular", "populace", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Medieval Latin populātus, past participle of populor (“populate”), from Latin populus (“people”). The correct English form is populate, spelled P-O-P-U-L-A-T-E.
Definition
- 1To supply with inhabitants; to people.
- 2To live in; to inhabit.
- 3To increase in number; to breed.
- 4To fill initially empty items in a collection.
- 5To fill initially empty slots or sockets on a circuit board or similar.
Etymology
Borrowed from Medieval Latin populātus, past participle of populor (“populate”), from Latin populus (“people”).
Antonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: oppulate,popluate,poppulate,popualte,populaet,populatte,popullate,popultae,pouplate,ppopulate,ppoulate
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of populate - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “populate”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is P-O-P-U-L-A-T-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈpɒp.jʊˌleɪt/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “postulate” - see the side-by-side comparison. populate vs postulate
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.