proliferative

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adjective

Of or pertaining to proliferation, especially of cells.

Less commonScrabble 21

Meanings

adjectiveproliferative (comparative more proliferative, superlative most proliferative)

comparative more proliferative · superlative most proliferative

  1. not comparablebiologyOf or pertaining to proliferation, especially of cells.

    ...stem cells may thus lose some of their proliferative potential and thus 'age'...

    1988, Nydia G. Testa, Robert Peter Gale, Hematopoiesis: Long-Term Effects of Chemotherapy and Radiation, Informa Health Care, →ISBN, page 327
    2 more examples

    cultures of cells may be considered to have reached the end of their proliferative lifespan when the cell number fails to double.

    2000, Yvonne A., Christopher R. Barnett, Aging: Methods and Protocols, Humana Press, →ISBN, page 40

    We conclude that aneuploidy causes not only a proliferative disadvantage but also a set of phenotypes...

    2007, Eduardo M. Torres et al., “Effects of Aneuploidy on Cellular Physiology and Cell Division in Haploid Yeast”, in Science 317, (5840), 904, page 916
  2. Proliferating; tending to proliferate.

    ...they give rise to a progressive, proliferative, chronic arthritis.

    1940, Albert B. Sabin and Joel Warren, "The Curative Effect of Certain Gold Compounds on Experimental Proliferative, Chronic Arthritis in Mice," Journal of Bacteriology 40(6)
nounproliferative (plural proliferatives)

plural proliferatives

  1. Such a cell

Origin

Cite this entry
APA

proliferative. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/proliferative

MLA

“proliferative.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/proliferative. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “proliferative,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/proliferative.

Source: proliferative on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.