proliferate
verb
Did you know?
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
Elizabeth MacBride, CNBC, 19 May 2026
With the proliferation of autonomous AI agents proliferate across enterprise and consumer settings, there is an urgent and immediate need for mechanisms to ensure authorization, accountability, and access control.
—Anjana Susarla, Forbes.com, 17 May 2026
The number of aces in baseball has diminished over time, while the number of teases has proliferated.
—Tim Britton, New York Times, 15 May 2026
Similar complaints are proliferating across social media, and 404 Media talked to more developers who confirmed the problem.
—Krystle Vermes, Futurism, 13 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for proliferate
Cite this Entry
“Proliferate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/proliferate. Accessed 21 May. 2026.
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proliferate
verb
Medical Definition
proliferate
verb
