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prolificacy

 - 3 dictionary results

pro⋅lif⋅ic

  [pruh-lif-ik]
–adjective
1. producing offspring, young, fruit, etc., abundantly; highly fruitful: a prolific pear tree.
2. producing in large quantities or with great frequency; highly productive: a prolific writer.
3. profusely productive or fruitful (often fol. by in or of): a bequest prolific of litigations.
4. characterized by abundant production: a prolific year for tomatoes.
Use prolificacy in a Sentence
Origin:
1640–50; < ML prōlificus fertile. See prolicide, -fic

Related forms:
pro⋅lif⋅i⋅ca⋅cy  [pruh-lif-i-kuh-see] , pro⋅li⋅fic⋅i⋅ty  [proh-luh-fis-i-tee] , pro⋅lif⋅ic⋅ness, noun
pro⋅lif⋅i⋅cal⋅ly, adverb

Synonyms:
1, 2. teeming, fecund, abundant. See productive.

Antonyms:
1. barren.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2010.
Cite This Source Link To prolificacy
pro·lif·ic   (prə-lĭf'ĭk)   
adj.  

  1. Producing offspring or fruit in great abundance; fertile.

  2. Producing abundant works or results: a prolific artist. See Synonyms at fertile.


[French prolifique, from Medieval Latin prōlificus : Latin prōlēs, prōl-, offspring; see al-2 in Indo-European roots + Latin -ficus, -fic.]
pro·lif'i·ca·cy (-ĭ-kə-sē), pro·lif'ic·ness (-ĭk-nĭs) n., pro·lif'i·cal·ly adv.
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

prolific 
1650, from Fr. prolifique, from M.L. prolificus, from L. proles "offspring" + root of facere "to make" (see factitious). L. proles is from PIE *pro-al-, from *pro- "forth" + *al- "to grow, nourish."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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