proliferate

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 11, 2009 is: proliferate • \pruh-LIF-uh-rayt\ • verb : to grow or increase in number rapidly Examples: "As low rates proliferated, lenders fell over themselves to stuff cash in customers' pockets." (Daniel Gross, Newsweek, August 20/27, 2007) Did you know? "Proliferate" came about in 1873 as a back-formation of "proliferation." That means that "proliferation" came first (we borrowed it from French in the 1850s) and was later shortened to form the verb "proliferate." Ultimately these terms come from Latin. The French adjective "prolifère" ("reproducing freely") comes from the Latin noun "proles" and the Latin combining form "-fer." "Proles" means "offspring" or "descendants," and "-fer" means "bearing." Both of these Latin forms gave rise to numerous other English words. "Prolific" and "proletarian" ultimately come from "proles"; "aquifer" and words ending in "-ferous" have their roots in "-fer." See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.