Dictionary

proliferation en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /pɹəˌlɪf.əˈɹeɪ.ʃən/ (Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation)
• /pɹəˌlɪf.əˈɹæɪ.ʃən/ (Australia)
• (US) audio Colorado

Etymology

Etymology tree French proliférer Proto-Indo-European *-tis Proto-Indo-European *-Hō Proto-Indo-European *-tiHō Proto-Italic *-tiō Latin -tiō Latin -ātiōlbor. Old French -ation Middle French -ation French -ation French proliférationbor. English proliferation Borrowed from French prolifération.

Meanings

1. (uncountable) The process by which an organism produces others of its kind; breeding, propagation, procreation, reproduction.
2. (countable) The act of increasing, rising, or proliferating; augmentation, amplification, enlargement, escalation, aggrandizement.
   • Internationally, the shipping container had already proven its worth, and by the early 1960s battles were being fought over what their standardised dimensions would be (their expected proliferation was not in question). 2023 March 8, Gareth Dennis, “The Reshaping of things to come...”, in RAIL, number 978, page 48:
   • But unlike the flow of capital, this virus seeks proliferation, not profit, and has, therefore, inadvertently, to some extent, reversed the direction of the flow. 2020 April 3, Arundhati Roy, “The pandemic is a portal”, in Financial Times, London: The Financial Times Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC:
   • One particularly damaging, but often ignored, effect of conflict on education is the proliferation of attacks on schools[…]as children, teachers or school buildings become the targets of attacks. Parents fear sending their children to school. Girls are particularly vulnerable to sexual violence. 2013 July 19, Mark Tran, “Denied an education by war”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 6, page 1:
3. (uncountable) The act of increasing, rising, or proliferating; augmentation, amplification, enlargement, escalation, aggrandizement. ▸ In particular, the spread (proliferating) of biochemical, nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction to countries not originally involved in developing them.
   • [Efforts] to fight proliferation will require more than just new targets for collection; intelligence analysis will also have to change. In particular, to support policymakers looking for opportunities to disrupt, slow, or stop a[…] 1996, Air University (U.S.). Press, Fighting Proliferation: New Concerns for the Nineties:
   • ... to combat proliferation by assisting them in gaining and assuring greater control over their dual-use equipment and technology. States that gain weapons of mass destruction are able to pose a significant military threat to the[…] 1997 11, William J. Perry, Proliferation: Threat and Response, DIANE Publishing, →ISBN, page 47:
4. (countable) The result of building up; buildup, accretion.

Forms

Deriveds

reproliferation · endoproliferation · malproliferation · lymphoproliferation · neuroproliferation · proliferational · horizontal proliferation · nonproliferation · non-proliferation · antiproliferation · hypoproliferation · proliferate · immunoproliferation · autoproliferation · prolotherapy · fibroproliferation · vasoproliferation · alloproliferation · overproliferation · vertical proliferation · hyperproliferation · osteoproliferation · counterproliferation · angioproliferation · proliferation therapy · underproliferation · myeloproliferation

Translations (67)

de Verstärkung (the act of increasing or rising) · bg нарастване (the act of increasing or rising) · el πολλαπλασιασμός (the process by which an organism produces others of its kind) · ru пролифера́ция (the act of increasing or rising) · de Wucherung (the act of increasing or rising) · sl razmnoževanje (the process by which an organism produces others of its kind) · ja 増殖 (the process by which an organism produces others of its kind) · sl dviganje (the act of increasing or rising) · de Sprossung (the process by which an organism produces others of its kind) · cs rozmnožování (the process by which an organism produces others of its kind) · fi lisääntyminen (the act of increasing or rising) · ms percambahan (the spread of weapons of mass destruction) · pl proliferacja (the spread of weapons of mass destruction) · cmn 增殖 (the process by which an organism produces others of its kind) · ko (동식물의)번식 (the process by which an organism produces others of its kind) · cs rozšiřování (the act of increasing or rising) · de Knospung (the process by which an organism produces others of its kind) · cs zvětšování (the act of increasing or rising) · cs navyšování (the act of increasing or rising) · nl versterking (the act of increasing or rising) · sh пролифера́ција (the process by which an organism produces others of its kind) · nl woekering (the act of increasing or rising) · el πλήθυνση (the act of increasing or rising) · de Vergrößerung (the act of increasing or rising) · el αύξηση (the act of increasing or rising) · ru рост (the act of increasing or rising) · cs nárůst (the result of building up) · sl dviganje (the act of increasing or rising) · ru увеличе́ние (the result of building up) · fr prolifération (the process by which an organism produces others of its kind) · ru распростране́ние (the spread of weapons of mass destruction) · pt proliferação (the process by which an organism produces others of its kind) · ru рост (the result of building up) · uk розповсюдження (the spread of weapons of mass destruction) · ckb پەرەزا (the act of increasing or rising) · ckb پەرەزا (the process by which an organism produces others of its kind) · sv förökning (the process by which an organism produces others of its kind) · de Proliferation (the spread of weapons of mass destruction) · nl vergroting (the act of increasing or rising) · fi lisääntyminen (the process by which an organism produces others of its kind) · ru размноже́ние (the process by which an organism produces others of its kind) · sh proliferácija (the process by which an organism produces others of its kind) · pl rozprzestrzenienie (the process by which an organism produces others of its kind) · cmn 擴散 /扩散 (the spread of weapons of mass destruction) · es proliferación (the process by which an organism produces others of its kind) · de Vermehrung (the process by which an organism produces others of its kind) · ru распростране́ние (the process by which an organism produces others of its kind) · nl toename (the act of increasing or rising) · id proliferasi (the spread of weapons of mass destruction) · ru увеличе́ние (the act of increasing or rising) · ru разраста́ние (the process by which an organism produces others of its kind) · sl večanje (the act of increasing or rising) · sl širjenje (the act of increasing or rising) · de Verbreitung (the spread of weapons of mass destruction) · nl proliferatie (the spread of weapons of mass destruction) · bg размножение (the process by which an organism produces others of its kind) · de Zunahme (the act of increasing or rising) · bg разпространение (the spread of weapons of mass destruction) · ko (세포의)증식 (the process by which an organism produces others of its kind) · it proliferazione (the process by which an organism produces others of its kind) · id proliferasi (the process by which an organism produces others of its kind) · el πολλαπλασιασμός (the act of increasing or rising) · cs množení (the process by which an organism produces others of its kind) · ms pemproliferatan (the process by which an organism produces others of its kind) · nl proliferatie (the process by which an organism produces others of its kind) · uk розмноження (the process by which an organism produces others of its kind) · it proliferazione (the act of increasing or rising)