proliferate
verb
Did you know?
Proliferate is a back-formation of proliferation. That means that proliferation came first (we borrowed it from French in the 1700s), and was later shortened to form the verb. Proliferation originally referred to the botanical phenomenon of some plants having buds, flowers, or other parts that are adventitious—that is, that arise or occur sporadically or in other than the usual location (e.g. pitch pines’ ability to sprout new trees directly from their stumps after a fire). With advances in the study of biology in the 1800s, proliferation came to be used to refer to the rapid and repeated production of cells by division. That sense in turn begat the verb proliferate, which eventually came to be used when anything—whether living (such as yeast) or nonliving (such as data)—quickly increases or multiplies.
Synonyms
Examples of proliferate in a Sentence
Jason Fanelli, Rolling Stone, 5 Nov. 2024
Skye Perryman, the president and CEO of Democracy Forward—a legal nonprofit that works to protect democracy—knows too well that election denialism and false claims that have proliferated since the 2020 election.
—Forbestv, Forbes, 4 Nov. 2024
Photo: Adrian Nina Ormerod’s splash of pink tulle reflects a wider trend for tinted veils that has proliferated in alternative corners of the Western wedding sphere, where women aren’t robbed of £50 for a warm glass of Prosecco and the privilege of wriggling into a grubby one-size-fits-all sample.
—Alice Newbold, Vogue, 4 Nov. 2024
Bartenders’ conversations about sustainability—which are proliferating from Los Angeles’s fine-dining spot Providence to Chicago cocktail destination the Whistler—originated overseas.
—Jason O'Bryan, Robb Report, 2 Nov. 2024
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Dictionary Entries Near proliferate
Cite this Entry
“Proliferate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/proliferate. Accessed 28 Nov. 2024.
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proliferate
verb
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proliferate
verb
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