proliferationn.
/prəˌlɪfəˈreɪʃn/, U.S. /prəˌlɪfəˈreɪʃ(ə)n/, /proʊˌlɪfəˈreɪʃ(ə)n/ 1. Botany. The condition of having adventitious buds, flowers, or shoots; an adventitious shoot, esp. of a lower plant. Also: the condition of having an abnormal number or kind of floral organs. Cf. prolification n. 2a.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > part of plant > bud > [noun] > budding
budding1398
knotting1611
proliferation1759
gemmation1760
prolification1760
pullulation1829
out-budding1841
1759 J. Hill Veg. Syst. I. xxxviii. 122 Those Manures which strengthen the Blea..in the same manner cause Proliferation, or the rise of one Flower from the center of another, in the stead of Seeds.
1858 R. G. Mayne Expos. Lexicon Med. Sci. (1860) 1021/1 Proliferatio, applied by Link to the appearance of a bud or of a flower upon a part of the plant which has not been accustomed to bear such: proliferation.
1913 W. Bateson Mendel's Princ. Heredity (new ed.) 197 Another kind of doubling is due to what is termed proliferation or prolification (Masters) of the floral envelopes.
1925 Bot. Gaz. 80 333 After the prothallia have attained a certain size..they begin to develop branches or proliferations.
1932 Amer. Jrnl. Bot. 19 602 A second type of proliferation..is that of the production of a second flower as an extension of the central axis of the primary flower.
1953 Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 80 451 Flower heads at the higher dosages..show, after 8 wks., proliferation by a mixture of modified leaf whorls in floral positions.
1983 A. Huxley Penguin Encycl. Gardening 247/1 Proliferation, the production of an abnormal number of organs in a flower.
2000 Amer. Fern Jrnl. 90 130 Antheridia sometimes formed near the apical region.., or on the margin, especially on filamentous proliferations.
2.
a. Biology and Medicine. Increase or growth, esp. of or involving cells of the same type; an instance of this.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > biology > biological processes > procreation or reproduction > types of reproduction > [noun] > others
adosculation1682
autogeny?1818
gemmation1836
parthenogenesis1849
virgin production1849
rejuvenescence1853
agamogenesis1857
monogeny1857
autogenesis1858
homogenesis1858
proliferation1864
monogenesis1866
swarming1867
paedogenesis1870
monogony1873
virginal generation1879
division1880
monogenesy1890
parthenogeny1890
anisogamy1891
isogamy1891
paragamy1891
separation1891
paedogenesis1892
parthenism1892
heterogamy1894
thelytoky1895
flagellation1898
cytogamy1899
pseudogamy1900
tychoparthenogenesis1900
syngamy1904
pseudogamy1907
ectogenesis1909
paedogamy1910
apomixis1913
progenesis1934
agamospermy1939
mixis1944
somatogamy1949
decapitation-
1864 E. A. Parkes Man. Pract. Hygiene I. vii. 231 There is proliferation and rapid cell-growth.
1867 H. Maudsley Physiol. & Pathol. of Mind 402 This proliferation of connective tissue with destruction of the nerve elements has..been already observed.
1905 Daily Chron. 2 Dec. 6/3 The theory of the Imperial Cancer Research Committee that cancer is entirely due to the proliferation of cancer cells, and that to stop this proliferation would be to cure cancer.
1928 F. T. Brooks Plant Dis. ii. 14 If the atmosphere is extremely humid..local proliferations of the tissues, known as Intumescences may arise on leaves.
1953 R. W. Fairbrother Text-bk. Bacteriol. (ed. 7) xxxii. 395 In some cases, e.g., warts and molluscum contagiosum, there is a distinct tendency to cell proliferation.
1976 Amer. Jrnl. Bot. 63 349/1 From the apparently unorganized proliferation which occurred initially there developed a partially organized meristem.
1994 Chicago Tribune 15 Apr. i. 8/1 Oncogenes and tumor suppressors are the gas pedal and the brake that control the proliferation of cells.
b. Originally: (Zoology) the production of sexual zooids by hydrozoans. Later more widely: the production of new individuals; prolific reproduction.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > colony or compound organism > [noun] > reproduction by budding
prolification1865
proliferation1890
1890 Cent. Dict. Proliferation, the origination and development of generative zoöids, as in the formation of medusa-buds..by a polyp.
1894 Harper's Mag. Mar. 633 Bacteria..are very sensitive in the matter of growth and proliferation to the conditions under which they are placed.
1968 New Eng. Jrnl. Med. 7 Mar. 550/2 It seems possible that the damaged bronchial mucosa of bronchitics encourages proliferation of H. influenzae.
2001 Melbourne Express 19 June 6/2 The problem, known as cold water pollution, kills native fish..and causes a proliferation of cold water pests such as carp.
3. Rapid increase in the number, amount, or extent of something; multiplication, expansion; an instance of this.From the mid 20th cent. sometimes spec. with reference to the acquisition by nation states of the ability to use (originally nuclear) weapons. Cf. non-proliferation n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > increase in quantity, amount, or degree > [noun] > increase in quantity, number, or frequency
multiplicationa1387
increase1390
multiplyingc1390
manifolding1892
proliferation1904
society > armed hostility > military equipment > arming or equipping with weapons > [noun] > proliferation
build-up1943
proliferation1961
vertical proliferation1966
1904 Atlanta (Georgia) Constit. 31 July 2/3 The rights and..position of the general practitioner, which have been encroached upon by a morbid proliferation of specialism and a one-sided organo-therapy.
1906 Amer. Jrnl. Sociol. 11 749 The mere proliferation of sectionally religious bodies is simply an expression of spiritual freedom.
1920 H. G. Wells Outl. Hist. II. 641/2 The British and French were at first the leading peoples in this great proliferation of knowledge.
1961 World Politics 13 537 The stability given to the ‘balance of terror’ by American and Soviet stress on second-strike capabilities could be drastically undermined by a proliferation of nuclear capabilities.
1966 Listener 4 Aug. 177/3 One of the most noticeable results of setting up a Royal Commission has been the proliferation of proposals for legal solutions to industrial relations problems.
1989 PC World Oct. 58/3 The proliferation of graphic user interfaces and memory-intensive applications keeps memory demand soaring.
2004 9/11 Comm. Rep. (National Comm. Terrorist Attacks U.S.) i. 17 Emerging ‘asymmetric threats’ to the United States: drug smuggling, ‘non-state and state-sponsored terrorists’, and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile technology.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1759