propagate

English

Etymology

Latin propagatus

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈpɹɒpəˌɡeɪt/
(General American) IPA^(key): /ˈpɹɑpəˌɡeɪt/
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Verb

propagate (third-person singular simple present propagates, present participle propagating, simple past and past participle propagated)

(transitive, of animals or plants) To cause to continue or multiply by generation, or successive production.
- June 1879, William Keith Brooks, Popular Science Monthly Volume 15 - The Condition of Women from a Zoological Point of View I
  A marked bud-variation is of very rare occurrence, but in many cases the tendency of plants raised from seeds to differ from the parents is so great that choice varieties are propagated entirely by buds. It is almost hopeless to attempt to propagate a choice variety of grape or strawberry by seeds, as the individuals raised in this way seldom have the valuable qualities of their parents, and, although they may have new qualities of equal or greater value, the chances are of course greatly against this, since the possibility of undesirable variation is much greater than the chance of a desirable sport.
(transitive) To cause to spread to extend; to impel or continue forward in space.
to propagate sound or light
(transitive) To spread from person to person; to extend the knowledge of; to originate and spread; to carry from place to place; to disseminate.
- 1938, Hilaire Belloc, The Great Heresies Chapter 4
  There began to appear from the East, cropping up now here, now there, but in general along lines of advance towards the West, individuals or small communities who proposed and propagated a new and, as they called it, a purified form of religion.
- 1913, J. B. Bury, A History of Freedom of Thought Chapter 3
  The works of the freethinker Averroes (twelfth century) which were based on Aristotle's philosophy, propagated a small wave of rationalism in Christian countries.
- 2011 December 19, Kerry Brown, “Kim Jong-il obituary”, in The Guardian‎:
  The DPRK propagated an extraordinary tale of his birth occurring on Mount Baekdu, one of Korea's most revered sites, being accompanied by shooting stars in the sky.
(obsolete, transitive) To multiply; to increase.
- c. 1591–1595 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act I, scene i]:
  Griefs of mine own lie heavy in my breast, / Which thou wilt propagate.
(transitive) To generate; to produce.
- 1847, Thomas De Quincey, Conversation (published in Tait's Edinburgh Magazine)
  Motion propagated motion, and life threw off life.
(biology, intransitive) To produce young; to be produced or multiplied by generation, or by new shoots or plants.
- 1868, Charles Darwin, chapter XXVIII, in The Variation of Animals and Plants Under Domestication. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: John Murray, […], OCLC 156100686:
  As pigeons propagate so rapidly, I suppose that a thousand or fifteen hundred birds would have to be annually killed by mere chance.
(intransitive, computing) To take effect on all relevant devices in a network.
It takes 24 hours for password changes to propagate throughout the system.
(transitive, computing) To cause to take effect on all relevant devices in a network.
The server propagates the password file at midnight each day.

Derived terms

propagation
propagator

Translations

to cause to continue or multiply by generation

Bulgarian: размножавам (bg) (razmnožavam)
Finnish: lisätä (fi)
Irish: póraigh, síolraigh
Maori: whakamakuru
Portuguese: propagar (pt)

to cause to spread to extend

Bulgarian: разпространявам (bg) (razprostranjavam)
Finnish: lähettää (fi), levittää (fi)
German: verbreiten (de)
Japanese: 伝播する (でんぱする, denpa suru)
Portuguese: propagar (pt)
Russian: распространя́ть (ru) impf (rasprostranjátʹ), распространи́ть (ru) pf (rasprostranítʹ)
Swedish: sprida (sv)
Ukrainian: розповсю́джувати (rozpovsjúdžuvaty), поши́рювати (pošýrjuvaty)

to spread from person to person

Dutch: propageren (nl)
Finnish: levittää (fi)
Portuguese: propagar (pt)
Swedish: sprida (sv)

to multiply; to increase

Bulgarian: умножавам (bg) (umnožavam), увеличавам (bg) (uveličavam)
Finnish: lisätä (fi)
Maori: whakamakuru
Russian: размножа́ть (ru) impf (razmnožátʹ), размно́жить (ru) pf (razmnóžitʹ) (transitive), размножа́ться (ru) impf (razmnožátʹsja), размно́житься (ru) pf (razmnóžitʹsja) (intransitive)

to generate; to produce

Bulgarian: плодя се (plodja se)
Finnish: aiheuttaa (fi)

to have young or issue

Bulgarian: размножавам се (razmnožavam se)
Finnish: lisääntyä (fi)
French: se propager
German: sich vermehren
Irish: síolraigh
Russian: размножа́ться (ru) impf (razmnožátʹsja), размно́житься (ru) pf (razmnóžitʹsja)
Swedish: fortplanta sig

References

propagate in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913

Ido

Verb

propagate

adverbial present passive participle of propagar

Italian

Verb

propagate

inflection of propagare:
1. second-person plural present indicative
2. second-person plural imperative

Participle

propagate f pl

feminine plural of propagato

Anagrams

prepagato

Latin

Verb

prōpāgāte

second-person plural present active imperative of prōpāgō