- proliferate
- proliferate 1873, as a term in biology, from PROLIFERATION (Cf. proliferation). General sense from 1961. Related: Proliferated; proliferating.
Etymology dictionary. 2014.
proliferate
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Proliferate — Pro*lif er*ate, v. t. [L. proles offspring + ferre to bear.] [1913 Webster] 1. (Biol.) To produce or form cells; especially, to produce cells rapidly. [1913 Webster] 2. (Zo[ o]l.) To produce zooids by budding. [1913 Webster] … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
proliferate — I verb abound, be fruitful, be numerous, be plentiful, blossom, breed, bud, burgeon, fecundate, fecundity, flourish, flower, grow, grow in number, have offspring, have progeny, increase the number of, make manifold, multiplicare, multiply,… … Law dictionary
proliferate — [v] increase quickly breed, burgeon, engender, escalate, expand, generate, grow rapidly, multiply, mushroom*, procreate, propagate, reproduce, run riot*, snowball*; concept 780 Ant. decline, decrease, fall off … New thesaurus
proliferate — ► VERB ▪ reproduce rapidly; increase rapidly in number. DERIVATIVES proliferation noun proliferative adjective. ORIGIN from Latin prolificus (see PROLIFIC(Cf. ↑prolifically)) … English terms dictionary
proliferate — [prō lif΄ə rāt΄, prəlif΄ər āt΄] vt. proliferated, proliferating [back form. < proliferation < Fr prolifération < prolifère, PROLIFEROUS + ATION] 1. to reproduce (new parts) in quick succession 2. to produce or create in profusion vi. 1 … English World dictionary
proliferate — UK [prəˈlɪfəreɪt] / US [prəˈlɪfəˌreɪt] verb [intransitive] Word forms proliferate : present tense I/you/we/they proliferate he/she/it proliferates present participle proliferating past tense proliferated past participle proliferated formal to… … English dictionary
proliferate — verb ( ated; ating) Etymology: back formation from proliferation, from French prolifération, from proliférer to proliferate, from prolifère reproducing freely, from Latin proles + fer ferous Date: 1873 intransitive verb 1. to grow by rapid… … New Collegiate Dictionary
proliferate — I (New American Roget s College Thesaurus) v. i. spread, multiply. See multitude, reproduction. II (Roget s IV) v. Syn. increase, engender, procreate, generate; see propagate 1 , reproduce 3 . III (Roget s 3 Superthesaurus) (VOCABULARY WORD) v.… … English dictionary for students
proliferate — pro|lif|e|rate [prəˈlıfəreıt] v [I] [Date: 1800 1900; Origin: proliferation] if something proliferates, it increases quickly and spreads to many different places ▪ Computer courses continue to proliferate … Dictionary of contemporary English
proliferate — [[t]prəlɪ̱fəreɪt[/t]] proliferates, proliferating, proliferated VERB If things proliferate, they increase in number very quickly. [FORMAL] Computerized data bases are proliferating fast... In recent years commercial, cultural, travel and other… … English dictionary
