proliferate
verb
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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
Alexandra Talty, New York Times, 17 May 2025
With laughably low bars to entry, providers proliferate.
—Teri Sforza, Oc Register, 14 May 2025
Although anti-trans talking points proliferated in the U.K. government under previous Tory administrations, that trajectory has continued under the new Labour government and Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who endorsed the Supreme Court judgment last month.
—Samantha Riedel, Them., 12 May 2025
Similar models have since proliferated since then in Asia.
—Theodora Lau, Forbes.com, 9 May 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 24 May. 2025.
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proliferate
verb
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proliferate
verb
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