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proliferous

[ pruh-lif-er-uhs ]
/ prəˈlɪf ər əs /
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See synonyms for proliferous on Thesaurus.com
adjective
proliferating.
Botany.
  1. producing new individuals by budding or the like.
  2. producing an organ or shoot from an organ that is itself normally the last, as a shoot or a new flower from the midst of a flower.
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Origin of proliferous

1645–55; <Medieval Latin prōlifer bearing offspring + -ous. See prolicide, -ferous

OTHER WORDS FROM proliferous

non·pro·lif·er·ous, adjectiveun·pro·lif·er·ous, adjective

Words nearby proliferous

proletary, prolicide, pro-life, proliferate, proliferation, proliferous, prolific, proline, prolix, prolixity, prolocutor
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Words related to proliferous

abundant, arable, bearing, black, bountiful, breeding, bringing forth, childing, fecund, flowering, fruitful, generative, gravid, hebetic, loamy, lush, luxuriant, plenteous, plentiful, pregnant

How to use proliferous in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for proliferous

proliferous
/ (prəˈlɪfərəs) /
adjective
(of plants) producing many side branches or offshoots and normally reproducing vegetatively by buds or by plantlets produced in the inflorescence
(of certain animals) reproducing by means of buds, etc

Word Origin for proliferous

C17: from Medieval Latin prōlifer having offspring
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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