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Definition of proliferation - 5 dictionary results

pro⋅lif⋅er⋅a⋅tion

  [pruh-lif-uh-rey-shuhn]
Use proliferation in a Sentence
–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
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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pro·lif·er·ate   (prə-lĭf'ə-rāt')   
v.   pro·lif·er·at·ed, pro·lif·er·at·ing, pro·lif·er·ates

v.   intr.

  1. To grow or multiply by rapidly producing new tissue, parts, cells, or offspring.

  2. 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.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

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.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

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
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

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

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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