proliferate

verb pro·lif·er·ate \ prə-ˈli-fə-ˌrāt \

Definition of proliferate

proliferated; proliferating

intransitive verb

1 :to grow by rapid production of new parts, cells, buds, or offspring

2 :to increase in number as if by proliferating :multiply

transitive verb

1 :to cause to grow by proliferating

2 :to cause to increase in number or extent as if by proliferating

—

proliferation

play \-ˌli-fə-ˈrā-shən\ noun

—

proliferative

play \-ˈli-fə-ˌrā-tiv, -f(ə-)rə-tiv\ adjective

See proliferate defined for English-language learners

See proliferate defined for kids

proliferate was our Word of the Day on 03/11/2009. Hear the podcast!

Examples of proliferate in a Sentence

rumors about the incident proliferated on the Internet

Recent Examples of proliferate from the Web

Maps, organized tours, and walking guides proliferated during the years Tolkien began charting Bilbo’s great hike towards the Lonely Mountain.

— adrian daub, Longreads, "Here at the End of All Things," 24 Aug. 2017
With Russell’s data proliferating among diagnosticians, and the term itself entering the lexicon through trendy magazines with wide distributions, cases of bulimia rose steeply.

— lee daniel kravetz, The Cut, "The Strange, Contagious History of Bulimia," 31 July 2017
If charter schools and for-profit schools and voucher programs are encouraged to proliferate, how is their performance measured and who guards against exploitation?

— lisa miller, Daily Intelligencer, "Who Is Betsy DeVos?," 25 July 2017
Boca would be one of at least six South Florida cities to create a law aimed at boosting access to the technology as the charging stations continue to proliferate.

— aric chokey, Sun-Sentinel.com, "Electric-car chargers a must outside new apartments and stores, Boca proposes," 18 July 2017
In March, the city of San Diego—where residents of neighborhoods like Ocean Beach have decried the loss of local identity as rentals have proliferated—had to move a meeting on STRs to a bigger venue because of overflow crowds.

— pam mandel, Longreads, "Now Airbnb is Wrecking Mountain Towns, Too," 14 July 2017
Hill's lab has focused on a different bad actor: overproduction of IL-6, which causes Th17 cells to proliferate.

— jon cohen, Science | AAAS, "A stem cell transplant helped beat back a young doctor’s cancer. Now, it’s assaulting his body," 12 July 2017
That is why the NCAA’s knee-jerk response is to fight anything that might help betting proliferate.

— andy staples, SI.com, "The NCAA needs to start planning for a world where sports betting is widely legal," 30 June 2017
The charging station for the electric car, once a thing of the future, is starting to proliferate across South Florida.

— aric chokey, Sun-Sentinel.com, "More charging stations for electric cars pop up across South Florida," 29 June 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'proliferate.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

Proliferate came about in 1873 as a back-formation of "proliferation." That means that "proliferation" came first (we borrowed it from French in the 1850s) and was later shortened to form the verb "proliferate." Ultimately these terms come from Latin. The French adjective prolifère ("reproducing freely") comes from the Latin noun proles and the Latin combining form "-fer." Proles means "offspring" or "descendants," and -fer means "bearing." Both of these Latin forms gave rise to numerous other English words. "Prolific" and "proletarian" ultimately come from "proles"; "aquifer" and words ending in "-ferous" have their roots in "-fer."

Origin and Etymology of proliferate

back-formation from proliferation, from French prolifération, from proliférer to proliferate, from prolifère reproducing freely, from Latin proles + -fer -ferous

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1866

See Words from the same year