Proliferation definition |Dictionary.com

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Synonyms of Proliferation

accretion, development, enlargement, multiplication, aggrandizement, amplification, augment, augmentation, boost, buildup, enlargement, escalation

Proliferation

8 dictionary results for: Proliferation

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

pro·lif·er·a·tion

[pruh-lif-uh-rey-shuh

n] Pronunciation Key

–noun

1.	the growth or production of cells by multiplication of parts.

2.	a rapid and often excessive spread or increase: nuclear proliferation.

[Origin: 1855–60; proliferate + -ion

]

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

pro·lif·er·ate   (prə-lĭf'ə-rāt') Pronunciation Key
v.   pro·lif·er·at·ed, pro·lif·er·at·ing, pro·lif·er·ates

v.   intr.

To grow or multiply by rapidly producing new tissue, parts, cells, or offspring.
To increase or spread at a rapid rate: fears that nuclear weapons might proliferate.

v. tr.
To cause to grow or increase rapidly.

[Back-formation from proliferation, the act of proliferating, from French prolifération, from prolifère, procreative : Latin prōlēs, prōl-, offspring; see proliferous + Latin -fer, -fer.]

pro·lif'er·a'tion n., pro·lif'er·a'tive adj., pro·lif'er·a'tor n.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
proliferation

1867, "formation or development of cells," from Fr. proliferation, from prolifere "producing offspring," from L. proles "offspring" (see prolific) + ferre "to bear" (see infer). Meaning "enlargement, extension, increase" is from 1920; esp. of nuclear weapons (1966). Proliferate is a back-formation, first recorded 1873.

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WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

proliferation
noun
1.	growth by the rapid multiplication of parts
2.	a rapid increase in number (especially a rapid increase in the number of deadly weapons); "the proliferation of nuclear weapons" [ant: non-proliferation]

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American Heritage Stedman's Medical Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

proliferation pro·lif·er·a·tion (prə-lĭf'ə-rā'shən)
n.
The growth and reproduction of similar cells.

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Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
Main Entry: pro·lif·er·a·tion
Pronunciation: pr&-"lif-&-'rA-sh&n
Function: noun
1 a : rapid and repeatedproduction of new parts or of offspring (as in a mass of cells by a rapid succession of cell divisions) b : a growth so formed
2 : the action, process, or resultof increasing by or as if by proliferation

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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Proliferation

Pro*lif`er*a"tion\, n. 1. (Biol.) The continuous development of cells in tissue formation; cell formation. --Virchow.

2. (Zo["o]l.) The production of numerous zooids by budding, especially when buds arise from other buds in succession.

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