| 释义 |
prolification|prəʊlɪfɪˈkeɪʃən|
[ad. med.L. prōlificātiōn-em (1451 in Du Cange), n. of action from prōlific-āre to prolificate. Cf. F. prolification (1550 in Godef. Compl.).]
1. The generation or production of offspring; also, reproductive power; fecundity, fertility.
1390Gower Conf. II. 110 Thou makst prolificacion, And dost that children ben begete. 1608Topsell Serpents (1658) 594 The Wizards..making a sacrifice, gave answer that it betokened prolification, or birth of children. 1702R. Gibson in First Dutch War (Navy Rec. Soc.) 46 It is confessed we want people. To help this evil..prohibit all French wines (its tartar, &c., hindering prolification). 1824J. Gilchrist Etym. Interpreter 250 Specimens of the metaphoric prolification of the present literature.
†b. Offspring, progeny. Obs. rare—1.
1646Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. iii. xii. 134 The off-springs of sensible creatures and prolifications descending from double originalls.
2. a. Bot. = proliferation 2.
1760J. Lee Introd. Bot. i. xx. (1765) 61 In umbellate Flowers, the Prolification is by the Encrease of the Umbellulæ. 1887Nicholson's Dict. Gard. s.v., If Prolification affects the inflorescence, it consists in the formation of leaf-buds, or of an unusual number of flower-buds.
b. Zool. Reproduction by budding; = proliferation 1.
1865Nat. Hist. Rev. July 368 O. F. Müller, in his ‘Zoologia Danica’ (1788) figured a small Annelid (Nereis prolifera) in the act of reproducing itself by division... Quatrefages and Milne Edwards..observed prolification in Syllis and Myrianida. |