proletariate 
to the proletariate; relating to the proletarian**; 
proletarian. 
The very efforts of philanthropy at the Improvement 
of the proletariate Classen. 
The Academy, June 29, !>-:>. p. 441. 
proletariate'-', proletariat (pro-le-ta'ri-at, -at), 
n. [< F. proletariat, the state or condition of a 
proletary, < Ii. proletarian, a proletary: see pro- 
letary and -ate.] Proletarians collectively; a 
body of proletarians ; the class of wage-workers 
dependent for support on daily or casual em- 
ployment ; the lowest and poorest class in the 
community. 
The proletariat, as the agitators delighted to call the 
standing class of operatives: meaning, by this Roman 
term for the lowest class in that republic, those who had 
only hands to work with and no laid-up capital. 
Woobey, Communism and Socialism, IT. f 1. 
These [socialistic] doctrines had in the west (of Europe] 
been bred among the proletariate, the large class of soci- 
ety who had no property, no stable source of Income, no 
steady employment, and no sure hope for the morrow, 
/.'"-, CoDtemp. Socialism, p. 208. 
proletary (pro'le-ta-ri), a. and . [= 
laire = Sp. Pg. It. ' proletario, < L. proletarian, 
according to a division of the state tradition- 
ally ascribed to Servius Tullius, a citizen of 
the lowest class, without property, and regard- 
ed as useful to the state only as the parent 
of children, < proles, offspring, progeny: gee 
proles.] I. a. Of or belonging to the lowest 
or poorest class of people ; pertaining to those 
who are dependent on daily or casual employ- 
ment for support ; proletarian. 
II. ".: pi. proletaries (-riz). A common per- 
son ; one belonging to the lower orders. 
Of K,OOO proletariee slain in a battel, scarce fifteen are re- 
corded in history. 
Burton, Anat. of Mel., To the Reader, p. 33. 
prolicide (pro'li-sid), . [< L. .proles, offspring, 
+ -eidium, < ceedere, kill.] The crime of de- 
stroying one's offspring, either before or after 
birth; feticide or infanticide. 
proliferate (pro-lif 'e-rat), r.; pret. and pp. pro- 
liferated, ppr. proliferating. [< L. proles, off- 
spring, HP ferre = K. be Ctrl t + -a te'*.] I. intrants. 
1. To reproduce; grow by multiplication of ele- 
mentary parts. 
All the cells of the body possess a latent capacity which 
enables them, under various stimuli, to proliferate and 
form new tissue. Electric Kee. (Eng.), XXIV. 4ls. 
2. Specifically, in zoiil., to generate or repro- 
duce by the act of proliferation; bear genera- 
tive persons or zooids, as distinguished from 
nutritive persons, as is the usual process in the 
hydroid polyps. 
The annual stock is ... composed of nutritive and pro. 
Itfe rating pel-sons, the latter again bearing the buds or 
generative persons. . . . The proliferating persons of a 
colony present various degrees of degeneration. 
Gcyenbaitr, Cornp. Anat. (trans. X P- 95- 
II. trans. To bear; form by reproduction. 
Theinesoblastiscompletedventrallybythedowngrowth 
on each side of the mesoblastic plates. These proliferate 
cells at their edge. 
A. E. Shipley, Proc. Roy. Soc., XXXIX. 24C. 
proliferation (pro-lif-e-ra'shon), n. [< prolifer- 
ous + -a Hon.] 1. In'roo/., tne origination and 
development of generative zooids, as in the for- 
mation of medusa-buds (planoblasts orhedrio- 
blasts)by a polyp. See planoblast. 2. In hot., 
as prolification. Entogastric proliferation. 
See cntogattrie. 
proliferative (pro-lif 'e-ra-tiv), a. [< proliferate 
+ -ive.] Reproductive ; budding or sprouting 
into new similar forms. 
Vlceration may be attended with pnHferatiee vegeta- 
tions which may occlude the air-passages. 
Med. tiewt, 1,111. 607. 
proliferous ( pro-lif 'e-rus), a. [= F. prolifere 
= Sp. prolifero = Pg. prolifcro, < L. proles, off- 
spring, progeny, + ferre = E. bear 1 .] Bearing 
offspring, (a) In bot., subject to or affected by prolifl- 
cation. See prolification, 2. Also prolific, protigerout. (b) 
In .-'/'/.. proliferating; bearing generative persons; pro- 
ducing medusa-buds, as a polyp. 
The proliferous Polyps develop generative buds on their 
walls. Claui, Zoology (trans.), p. 287. 
Proliferous cyst, in pathol., a cyst producing highly or- 
ganized and even vascular structures. 
proliferously ( pro-lit 'e-rus-li), adv. [< prolifer- 
ous + -ly 2 .] In a proliferous manner. 
Fronds originating prvlifcrously from other fronds some- 
times, when mature, disconnect themselves from their 
parents. // X/iencer, Prin. of Blol., $ 192. 
prolific ( pro-lif 'ik), . [< F. ;nvi//ri</'"' = Sp. 
jinilificn = Pg. It. prolifico, < ML. *iirolificux, 
producing offspring, < L. y>r/c.v, offspring, + 
fiicire, make, produce: sci> -fir. ('f. prolify.] 
1. Producing young orfruit, especially in abun- 
4765 
dance ; fruitful; fertile ; productive in general : 
as, & prolific female ; a prolific tree ; prolific seed. 
The branches, sturdy to his utmost wish, 
I'ruliiir all, and harbingers of more. 
Coirper, Task, III. Ml. 
That in the capital, and in great manufacturing towns, 
marriages are leu prulijic than In the open country, we 
admit, and Mr. Malthus admits. 
Macaulay, Sadler's Ret. Refuted. 
2. Serving to give rise or origin; having the 
quality of generating : as, a controversy prolific 
of evil consequences; a prolific braiii. 
With warm 
Prolific humour softening all her globe. 
Mittun, P. L., vll. 280. 
The extant remains of the literary work of the period 
are so great that, If we suppose them to bear the ordinary 
proportion to the lost worlis of the same age, they would 
prove it to be enormously prolific. 
Stubbt, Medieval and Modern Hist, p. ISO. 
3. Same as proliferous ()-=8yn. 1 and a 1'ndae- 
title, etc. See/rvt(/u/. 
prolificacy (pro-lif'i-ka-si), H. [< prolific + 
-acy.] Fruitf ulness ; great productiveness. 
With plants like carrots, cabbages, and asparagus, which 
are not valued for their prolificacy, selection can have 
played only a subordinate part. 
Darwin, Var. of Animals and Plants, xvl. 9. 
prolificalt (pro-lif'i-kal), a. [< prolific + -al.] 
Same as prolific. 
Every dispute in religion grew prolifieal, and in venti- 
lating one question many new ones were started. 
Decay qf Chrittian Piety. 
prolifically (pro-lif'i-kal-i), arfc. [< prolifieal 
"*" -ly'*-] In a prolific manner; fruitfully; with 
great increase. Imp. Diet. 
prolificate (pro-lif 'i-kat), r. t. ; pret. and pp. 
jirolificated, ppr. prolificating. [< ML. prolifi- 
catus, pp. of prolificare, beget: see prolify.] 
To impregnate; make prolific. Sir T. lirotcnr. 
prolification (pro-lif-i-ka'shon), H. [= OF. 
(and F.) prolification = Pg. prolifica<;!k>, < 
ML. prolificatio(n-), < prolificare, produce off- 
spring: see prolificate, prolify.] 1. The gener- 
ation of young animals or plants. 2. In hot., 
the development of an organ or a shoot from an 
organ which is itself normally ultimate, as a 
shoot or new flower from the midst of a flower, 
a frond from a frond, etc. Thus, a rose not unfre- 
i|iunlly gives birth to a second from its center, a pear 
bears a leafy shoot on its summit, and species of Juncui 
and Scirpui emit small sprouts from their flower-heads. 
This is often a case of morphological reversion, the axis 
whose leaves were altered to mnke the Mower resuming 
its onward and foliating tendency. Also proHferation, 
Compare proliferous. 
Abundant nutrition will abbreviate the Intervals be- 
tween the successive prolificatioia ; so that eventually, 
while each frond is yet imperfectly formed, the rudiment 
of the next will begin to show Itself. 
//. Spencer, Prin. of Biol., i 14. 
prolificness (pro-lif'ik-nes), n. [< prolific + 
-liens.'] The character or state of being pro- 
lific. 
If there are classes of creatures that expend very little 
for self-support in comparison with allied creatures, a 
relatively extreme prolificnfs* may be expected of them. 
H. Spencer, Prin. of Blol., | 350. 
prolifled (pro'li-fid), . [< prolify + -ed 2 .] In 
bot., developed proliferously. [Rare.] 
This plant (the water-avens] is frequently found in a 
prolifiea state, that is, with a branch or a second flower In 
the center of the original one. Trcatury of lint., p. 530. 
prolify (pro'li-fi), r. i. : pret. and \ip.prolified, 
ppr. prolify ing. f < OF. 'prolifier = Pg. proli- 
ficar, < ML. prolificare, produce offspring, be- 
get (cf. "nrolificus, producing offspring), < L. 
proles, offspring, + facere, make, produce: see 
-fy. Cf. prolific.'] To bring forth offspring. 
There remained In the heart of such some piece of ill- 
temper unrefornied, which in time prolified, and sent out 
great and wasting sins. 
Bp. Sandenon, Works, V. 338. (Daviet.) 
proligerous (pro-lij'e-rus), o. [< NL. proligc- 
rus, "jirolif/er, < L. proles, offspring, + ycrere, 
bear.] 1. Producing progeny; bearing off- 
spring; especially, germinating, as an ovum; 
entering into the formation of an embryo. 2. 
Specifically, noting the film, pellicle, or mem- 
brane of infusions, as the supposed origin or 
source of the infusorial animalcules which ap- 
pear in such infusions. Seepseudorary, 2. 3. 
In bot., same WtfTOttfeTWU Proliferous disk or 
layer [ NL. discus proliytrut], in einbnttii^ih? mass of cells 
upon the outside of an ovum, derived from the inside of a 
(iraaflan follicle, wrongly supposed to be germinative, or 
to enter into the formation of an embryo. The real ger- 
minative area of an ovum is of course within its cell- 
wall. 
prolix (pro'liks or pro-liks'), n. [< F. prolisr 
= Sp. ]irolijo = Pg. proitiO = It. proliiato. < L. 
lirnlifiin. stretched out, extended (as the hair, 
neck, tail, trees, tunic, etc.), LL. also prolix in 
prolocutorship 
speech, comprehension ; also favorable, fortu- 
nate, courteous, etc. ; prob. orig. 'overflowing,' 
< pro, forth, + 'lixtu, orig. pp. of liqui, flow ; cf . 
i luii.". thoroughly soaked, boiled; In . lye: see 
liquid. The second element cannot be lajcus, 
loose, wide: se lax 1 .] If. Long; extended. 
She had also a most prolix beard, and moustachios. 
Kfrliin, Diary, Sept. 16, 1667. 
With wig prolix, down flowing to his waist. 
Cowper, Tirocinium, 1. 361. 
2f. Of long duration. 
If the appellant appoints a term too prolix, the judge 
may then assign a competent term. Aylife, Parergon. 
3. Long and wordy; exteudiugtoagreatlength; 
diffuse: as, & prolix oration or sermon. 
If they [philosophers] had consulted with nature, they 
had made their doctrines less prolix and more profound. 
Hiirnn. Advancement of Learning, II. 266. 
HelBiinsen] is about to publish a book about ancient 
and modern Rome, which, from what I hear, will be too 
minute and prolix. Grerille, Memoirs, April 9, 1830. 
4. Indulging in lengthy discourse ; discussing 
at great length ; tedious : as, a prolix speaker 
or writer. 
We shall not be more prolix, but refer the substantial, 
perfect, and assured handling hereof to your circumsiwc- 
tions, fidelities, and diligences. Unmet, Records, I. II. 
Syn. 3. Long, lengthy, wordy, long-winded, spun out, 
prolonged. 4. Tiresome, wearisome, 
prolixioust (pro-lik'sius), a. [< prolix + 
-i-ous.] Dilatory; intended to delay or put off; 
causing delay ; prolix. 
Your Lordship commanded me to be large, and I take 
licence to be prulixivu*, and shalbe peraduenture tedious. 
Halduyt't Voyayel, I. 217. 
Lay by all nicety and prolixwu* blushes. 
Shot., M. for 1>I., ii. 4. 162. 
prolixity (pro-lik'sj-ti), H. [< tSS.prolixitee, < 
OF. prolixite, F. prolixitc = Pr.protlxitatai Sp. 
prolijidad = Pg. prnlixida.de = It. proUssita, < 
LL. i>rolirita(t-)K, great length or extension. < 
L. prolixuti, stretched out: see prolix.] The 
state of being prolix ; extension ; length, (o) 
Length in a material sense. I Rare. ] 
Our fathers ... In their shaded walkB 
And long protracted bow'rs enjoyed at noon 
The gloom and coolness of declining day. 
Thanks to lienevolus he spares me yet . . . 
'I'lu obsolete prolixity of shade. 
Coirper, Task, I. 265. 
The monkey, meanwhile, with a thick tail curling out 
into preposterous prolixity from beneath his tartans, took 
his station at the Italian's feet, 
Hawthorne, Seven (iablcs, xi. 
(b) Lengthiness ; minute and superfluous detail ; tedious- 
ness. 
I might expatiate In a large description of the several 
holy places which this Church (as a Cabinet) contains In 
it. Hut this would be a superfluous prolixity, so many Pil- 
grims having discharg'd this office with so much exactness 
already. Maundrett, Aleppo to Jerusalem, p. US. 
The minuteness of Zurita's investigations has laid him 
open to the charge of prolixity. 
Pretcott, Kerd. and Isa., ii. 1, note. 
prolixly (pro'liks-li or pro-liks'li), adr. [< pro- 
lix + -ly' 2 .] In a prolix manner; at great length. 
That we have in the former chapters hitherto extended 
our discourse so prolixly, none ought to wonder. 
Evelyn, True Religion, I. 253. 
prolixness (pro'liks-nes or pro-liks'nes), . [< 
prolix + -ness.] The character of being prolix ; 
prolixity. 
The prolixnea, constraint, and monotony of modern lan- 
guages. 
Adam Smith, On the Formation of Languages. (Latham.) 
prollt , f. An obsolete form of prowl. 
prollert, . An obsolete form of prowler. 
prolocutor (pro-lok'u-tor or pro lo-ku-tor), n. 
[Formerly jrrolocutour ; < OF. prolocuteur, < L. 
prolocutor, proloquvtor, a pleader, an advocate, 
< proloqui, speak out, utter, declare, < pro, for. 
before, + loqui, pp. locutus, speak : see locution.] 
1. One who speaks for another or for others. 
[Bare.] 
Olivia undertook to be our prolocutor, and delivered the 
whole in a summary way. Goldirnith, Vicar, xi. 
The silence of records cannot be held to prove that an 
organised assembly like that of the commons could ever 
have dispensed with a recognised prolocutor or foreman. 
Stvubs. Const Hist, I 435. 
2. The speaker or chairman of the lower house 
of the Convocation. (See convocation, 3.) He 
is elected by the lower house, subject to the ap- 
proval of the metropolitan. 
As for the convocation, the queen thought fit to prorogue 
it. tin unrli at the expence of Dr. Atterbury's displeasure, 
who was designed their prolocutor. 
Su\ft, Letter, Jan. 12, 1708-9. 
prolocutorship (pro-lok'u-tor-ship or pro'lo-ku- 
tor-ship), ii. [(.prolocutor 4- -ulii/i.] The office 
or station of a prolocutor. 
