Pullulate

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /ˈpʌl.jʊ.leɪt/

Definitions

1. To grow, sprout, or multiply rapidly in number or quantity
2. To bud forth or send out shoots from a parent structure in the manner of botanical growth
3. To spread or increase swiftly by reproduction or multiplication ; to send out new shoots or sprouts rapidly from a source

Etymology: The Latin root of "pullulate" is a little more down-to-earth than its sound suggests. Latin "pullulus" meant a young animal or a sprout, and it was a diminutive of "pullus," which covered anything young, from a chick to a shoot. So the verb "pullulō" originally meant something like "sprout forth," the way seeds and buds push up new growth. English borrowed the word directly from the past participle "pullulātus," so the verb carries its agricultural picture with it. Its sense of multiplying quickly grew out of that image of rapid, abundant sprouting. A field of new shoots becomes a crowd of offspring or a swarm of insects, and the word stretches to cover anything that seems to bud and proliferate.

Synonyms: proliferate, multiply, breed, reproduce

Antonyms: decline, diminish, disperse