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.
Examples of proliferate in a Sentence
Michael Albertus, Foreign Affairs, 24 June 2025
As the growing tide of travelers strains housing, water, and the most Instagrammable hotspots in the region, protests and measures to lessen the effects of overtourism have proliferated.
—Suman Naishadham, Christian Science Monitor, 23 June 2025
Cowboy hats and Nashville-style dresses proliferated Thursday night in Oakbrook Terrace.
—Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune, 20 June 2025
Peasants rose up against the authorities, socialists and communists proliferated, and the government used horrific violence to control the populace.
—Ben Woollard, JSTOR Daily, 18 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for proliferate
Cite this Entry
“Proliferate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/proliferate. Accessed 3 Jul. 2025.
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proliferate
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proliferate
verb
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