Adjacent Words

Propagate definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

PROP'AGATE, v.t. [L. propago. See Prop. The Latin noun propago, is the English prop, and the termination ago, as in cartilago, etc. The sense of the noun is that which is set or thrust in.]
1. To continue or multiply the kind by generation or successive production; applied to animals and plants; as, to propagate a breed of horses or sheep; to propagate any species of fruit tree.
2. To spread; to extend; to impel or continue forward in space; as, to propagate sound or light.
3. To spread from person to person; to extend; to give birth to, or originate and spread; as, to propagate a story or report.
4. To carry from place to place; to extend by planting and establishing in places before destitute; as, to propagate the christian religion.
5. To extend; to increase.
Griefs of my own lie heavy in my breast,
Which thou wilt propagate.
6. To generate; to produce.
Superstitious notions, propagated in fancy, are hardly ever totally eradicated.
PROP'AGATE, v.i. To have young or issue; to be produced or multiplied by generation, or by new shoots or plants. Wild horses propagate in the forests of S. America.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: transmit from one generation to the next; "propagate these characteristics"
2: travel through the air; "sound and light propagate in this medium"
3: transmit; "propagate sound or light through air"
4: become distributed or widespread; "the infection spread"; "Optimism spread among the population" [syn: spread, propagate]
5: transmit or cause to broaden or spread; "This great civilization was propagated throughout the land"
6: cause to become widely known; "spread information"; "circulate a rumor"; "broadcast the news" [syn: circulate, circularize, circularise, distribute, disseminate, propagate, broadcast, spread, diffuse, disperse, pass around]
7: cause to propagate, as by grafting or layering
8: multiply sexually or asexually

Merriam Webster's

verb (-gated; -gating) Etymology: Latin propagatus, past participle of propagare to set slips, propagate, from propages slip, offspring, from pro- before + pangere to fasten — more at pro-, pact Date: circa 1570 transitive verb 1. to cause to continue or increase by sexual or asexual reproduction 2. to pass along to offspring 3. a. to cause to spread out and affect a greater number or greater area ; extend b. to foster growing knowledge of, familiarity with, or acceptance of (as an idea or belief) ; publicize c. to transmit (as sound or light) through a medium intransitive verb 1. to multiply sexually or asexually 2. increase, extend 3. to travel through space or a material — used of wave energy (as light, sound, or radio waves) • propagative adjective • propagator noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v.tr. 1 a breed specimens of (a plant, animal, etc.) by natural processes from the parent stock. b (refl. or absol.) (of a plant, animal, etc.) reproduce itself. 2 disseminate; spread (a statement, belief, theory, etc.). 3 hand down (a quality etc.) from one generation to another. 4 extend the operation of; transmit (a vibration, earthquake, etc.). Derivatives: propagation n. propagative adj. Etymology: L propagare propagat- multiply plants from layers, f. propago (as PRO-(1), pangere fix, layer)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Propagate Prop"a*gate, v. i. To have young or issue; to be produced or multiplied by generation, or by new shoots or plants; as, rabbits propagate rapidly. No need that thou Should'st propagate, already infinite. --Milton.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Propagate Prop"a*gate, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Propagated; p. pr. & vb. n. Propagating.] [L. propagatus, p. p. of propagare to propagate, akin to propages, propago, a layer of a plant, slip, shoot. See Pro-, and cf. Pact, Prop, Prune, v. t.] 1. To cause to continue or multiply by generation, or successive production; -- applied to animals and plants; as, to propagate a breed of horses or sheep; to propagate a species of fruit tree. 2. To cause to spread to extend; to impel or continue forward in space; as, to propagate sound or light. 3. To spread from person to person; to extend the knowledge of; to originate and spread; to carry from place to place; to disseminate; as, to propagate a story or report; to propagate the Christian religion. The infection was propagated insensibly. --De Foe. 4. To multiply; to increase. [Obs.] Griefs of mine own lie heavy in my breast, Which thou wilt propagate. --Shak. 5. To generate; to produce. Motion propagated motion, and life threw off life. --De Quincey. Syn: To multiply; continue; increase; spread; diffuse; disseminate; promote.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(propagates, propagating, propagated) 1. If people propagate an idea or piece of information, they spread it and try to make people believe it or support it. (FORMAL) They propagated political doctrines which promised to tear apart the fabric of British society. = disseminate VERB: V n • propagation ...the propagation of true Buddhism. N-UNCOUNT: oft N of n 2. If you propagate plants, you grow more of them from the original ones. (TECHNICAL) The easiest way to propagate a vine is to take hardwood cuttings... The pasque flower can be propagated from seed. VERB: V n, be V-ed from n, also V n from n • propagation ...the successful propagation of a batch of plants. N-UNCOUNT: oft N of n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. a. 1. Multiply, increase, continue. 2. Spread, diffuse, disseminate, circulate, extend, spread abroad, promulgate, promote. 3. Generate, beget, engender, procreate, breed, produce, bring into being, originate.

Moby Thesaurus

bear, beget, bestrew, breed, breed true, bring forth, broadcast, bruit about, circulate, circumfuse, copulate, crossbreed, cultivate, deal out, deliver, develop, diffract, diffuse, dispense, disperse, dispread, disseminate, distribute, diverge, engender, fan out, father, generate, get, grow, herald, inbreed, increase, issue, make known, make love, mother, multiply, noise abroad, outbreed, overscatter, oversow, overspread, proclaim, procreate, produce, proliferate, promote, promulgate, propagandize, publicize, publish, radiate, raise, reproduce, reproduce in kind, retail, scatter, sire, sow, sow broadcast, splay, spread, spread out, strew, transmit, utter