The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Populate \Pop"u*late\, a. [L. populus people. See People.]
   Populous. [Obs.] --Bacon.
   [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Populate \Pop"u*late\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Populated; p. pr. &
   vb. n. Populating.]
   To furnish with inhabitants, either by natural increase or by
   immigration or colonization; to cause to be inhabited; to
   people.
   [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Populate \Pop"u*late\, v. i.
   To propagate. [Obs.]
   [1913 Webster]

         Great shoals of people which go on to populate.
                                                  --Bacon.
   [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

populate
    v 1: inhabit or live in; be an inhabitant of; "People lived in
         Africa millions of years ago"; "The people inhabited the
         islands that are now deserted"; "this kind of fish dwells
         near the bottom of the ocean"; "deer are populating the
         woods" [syn: populate, dwell, live, inhabit]
    2: fill with inhabitants; "populate the forest with deer and
       wild boar for hunting"

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

45 Moby Thesaurus words for "populate":
   anchor, billet at, bivouac, burrow, camp, colonize, come to anchor,
   denizen, domesticate, drop anchor, dwell in, empeople, ensconce,
   establish residence, hive, inhabit, keep house, live at, live in,
   locate, moor, move, nest, occupy, park, people, perch, plant,
   relocate, reside, reside in, roost, set up housekeeping,
   set up shop, settle, settle down, settle in, sit down, squat,
   stand, stay at, strike root, take residence at, take root,
   take up residence