propagate

American  

[prop-uh-gayt] / ˈprɒp əˌgeɪt /

verb (used with object)

• propagates,
  present (3rd person singular)
• propagated,
  past participle,  past
• propagating
  present participle

1. to cause (an organism) to multiply by any process of natural reproduction from the parent stock.

2. to reproduce (itself, its kind, etc.), as an organism does.

3. to transmit (hereditary features or elements) to, or through, offspring.

4. to spread (a report, doctrine, practice, etc.) from person to person; disseminate.

5. to cause to increase in number or amount.

6. to create (an effect) at a distance, as by electromagnetic waves, compression waves, etc., traveling through space or a physical medium; transmit.

   to propagate sound.

7. to spread (a disease) from one individual to another.

   Dr. John Atlee believed believed that filthy living conditions probably propagated cholera.

8. Computers. to cause (an update or other alteration) to take effect throughout a network of devices.

   The active master database replicates updates to the standby master database, which propagates the updates to the subscribers.

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verb (used without object)

• propagates,
  present (3rd person singular)
• propagated,
  past participle,  past
• propagating
  present participle

1. to multiply by any process of natural reproduction, as organisms; breed.

2. to increase in extent, as a structural flaw.

   The crack will propagate only to this joint.

3. (of electromagnetic waves, compression waves, etc.) to travel through space or a physical medium.

4. Computers. to take effect throughout a network of devices.

propagate British  

/ ˈprɒpəˌɡeɪt /

verb

1. biology to reproduce or cause to reproduce; breed

2. (tr) horticulture to produce (plants) by layering, grafting, cuttings, etc

3. (tr) to promulgate; disseminate

4. physics to move through, cause to move through, or transmit, esp in the form of a wave

   to propagate sound

5. (tr) to transmit (characteristics) from one generation to the next

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• propagation
  noun
• propagator
  noun
• nonpropagative
  adjective
• propagational
  adjective
• propagative
  adjective
• propagatory
  adjective
• self-propagating
  adjective
• unpropagative
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• propagating
  present
• propagated
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• propagate
  simple
• propagates
  simple
• have propagated
  perfect
• has propagated
  perfect
• am propagating
  progressive
• are propagating
  progressive
• is propagating
  progressive
• have been propagating
  perfect progressive
• has been propagating
  perfect progressive

Past

• propagated
  simple
• had propagated
  perfect
• was propagating
  progressive
• were propagating
  progressive
• had been propagating
  perfect progressive

Future

• will propagate
  simple
• will have propagated
  perfect
• will be propagating
  progressive
• will have been propagating
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of propagate

First recorded in 1560–70; from Latin propāgātus (past participle of propāgāre “to reproduce (a plant) by cuttings, spread for sprouting, propagate, enlarge),” equivalent to propāg(ēs) “something set out, scion, slip” ( pro- pro- ¹ + pāg-, base of pangere “to fasten” + -ēs noun suffix) + -ātus -ate ¹

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Explanation

To propagate is to be fruitful and multiply, by the usual routes of reproduction, or by spreading something around — like a rumor. Propagate comes from the Latin word propagare, which means "to reproduce plants, breed." Plants love to propagate, especially when someone with a green thumb starts off with a jade plant stem in water and ends up with a garden full of the succulents. Plants aren't the only things to propagate like bunnies: in some apocalyptic movies, a virus propagates quickly, killing almost everyone in the world. Sound and light can also spread, or propagate, through the air.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

propagate propagates propagated propagating

She pointed to a desire to boost domestic production in agriculture and other sectors, alongside a wish to propagate "family values" and liberties.

From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026

Any talk of changing the rules, salary cap or otherwise, to put reins on this kind of success would propagate underperformance and penalize this fascinating culture of constant improvement.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 8, 2026

"Our approach relies on engineered metamaterials that are designed to control how waves propagate."

From Science Daily ● Jul. 12, 2026

But energy costs don’t stay contained; they propagate because they are a key input for many goods and services.

From MarketWatch ● May 13, 2026

It was once thought, in the days before relativity, that light did propagate through a special medium that permeated all of space, called “the luminiferous aether.”

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan

Over generations, the trait propagates through the population until what was once a rare mutation becomes commonplace.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026

"What's special about YIG is that it propagates a magnetic spin wave," says Olsson, referring to the type of wave created in magnetic materials when electrons spin in a synchronized fashion.

From Science Daily ● May 24, 2024

Now a nonprofit, the group propagates and distributes about 10,000 native saplings annually from wild-collected seed, mostly to other nonprofits and ecological restoration efforts.

From Seattle Times ● May 22, 2024

It’s one of many factors the researchers had to consider in their acoustic modeling, along with wind speed, temperature and time of year, which can all affect how sound propagates through the ocean.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 5, 2024

The Royal Air Force is strong in the kind of virtue that propagates itself and attains to a life beyond a life.

From The War in the Air; Vol. 1 The Part played in the Great War by the Royal Air Force by Sir Walter Alexander Raleigh

In contrast, the Wrightwood earthquake of 1812 crossed the junction and propagated through both fault systems as a single event.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 18, 2026

The sphagnum austinii has been brought from Scotland, where it still grows, to the Yorkshire Dales and is being propagated in local nurseries before it is planted within the blanket bogs.

From BBC ● Feb. 8, 2026

To get around this awkwardness, Winthrop et al. propagated the notion—formalized in the colony’s 1629 seal—that the Native Americans needed the new settlers for their own good.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 7, 2025

There’s a whole discourse that women only want to marry tall, beefy, high-testosterone, aggro men, but that discourse is largely propagated by male influencers and people trying to sell protein powder.

From Slate ● Jun. 15, 2025

It propagated all the way around until it met its starting point.

From "The Martian" by Andy Weir

Historically, a worm would exploit a fixed set of vulnerabilities, and that meant you could fix these vulnerabilities and prevent the worm from propagating any further to devices that had been updated.

From Barron's ● Oct. 13, 2026

"We're seeing waves propagating radially and upward, in a cone-like shape," said Joan Alexander, senior research scientist at NorthWest Research Associates.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 3, 2026

Helen Litchfield, secretary of the botany section at La Société Guernesiaise, said the team's efforts in propagating the dwarf pansy meant it was no longer at risk.

From BBC ● Apr. 3, 2026

Both countries poured billions of dollars into propagating their respective versions of Islamic orthodoxy around the world.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 25, 2026

I wasn’t sure how my dad would react to me propagating the rumor, but he just shook his head, looking all dazed and confused.

From "Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet" by Joanne Proulx

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Related Words

• circulate
• disseminate
• publicize
• transmit

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