Proliferation

Pronunciation

• IPA: /pɹəˌlɪfəˈɹeɪʃən/
• Rhymes: -eɪʃən

Origin

From proliferate + -ation.

Full definition of proliferation

Noun

1. (uncountable) The process by which an organism produces others of its kind; breeding, propagation, procreation, reproduction.
2. (countable) The act of increasing or rising; augmentation, amplification, enlargement, escalation, aggrandizement.
• 2013-07-19, Mark Tran, Denied an education by war, One particularly damaging, but often ignored, effect of conflict on education is the proliferation of attacks on schools...as children, teachers or school buildings become the targets of attacks. Parents fear sending their children to school. Girls are particularly vulnerable to sexual violence.
3. (countable) The result of building up; buildup, accretion.
4. (uncountable) The spread of biochemical, nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction to countries not originally involved in developing them.