propagation English · revision 1871

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=a1450|origins=la pangere}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /pɹɒpəˈɡeɪʃən/ ''(UK)''; /pɹɑpəˈɡeɪʃən/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|propagacioun]],^(Etymonline)^(Klein 1966) [[bor|fro|propagacion|t=offshoot, offspring]],^(Etymonline)^(Klein 1966)^(MWU 2024) and directly from [[la|prōpāgātiō|t=propagation, extension]],^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002) from [[m|la|prōpāgāre|t=to set forward, extend; to multiply plants by layers]],^(Etymonline) from [[m|la|prōpāgō|t=layer of a plant, offspring]],^(Etymonline) from [[m|la|prō|t=forth]] and the root of [[m|la|pangere|t=to fasten]].^(Etymonline) It is related to [[pact]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The production of offspring; reproduction (before 1450).^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)^(HTOED)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The Latin verb was a gardener's word for multiplying plants by layering.^(Etymonline) In English the noun first meant breeding or reproduction,^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) and in the 16th century it was used of offspring or a race (1536, obsolete).^(OED 1989)^(HTOED) From the multiplying of living things it came to mean the spreading of a belief or practice (1588 in the OED, 1531 in the Historical Thesaurus).^(OED 1989)^(HTOED) In 1656 it was applied to the transmission of motion, light or sound,^(OED 1989)^(HTOED) the sense Etymonline dates from the 1650s.^(Etymonline) Johnson (1755) gave only “continuance or diffusion by generation or successive production”.^(Johnson 1755) In 20th-century chemistry it names the self-perpetuating steps of a chain reaction (1928 in the OED).^(OED 1989)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * a1450 – reproduction, procreation.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1536 – offspring, breed (obsolete).^(OED 1989)^(HTOED)

+ * 1588 – the spreading of a belief or practice.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1603 – increase, extension in space or time (obsolete).^(OED 1989)

+ * 1656 – the transmission of motion, light or sound.^(OED 1989)^(HTOED)

+ * 1928 – a step in a chain reaction (chemistry).^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Multiplication or increase, as by natural [[reproduction]]; the breeding of plants or animals.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(MWU 2024)

+ # The spreading of something, such as a [[belief]] or practice, to a wider area or more people; [[dissemination]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(SOED 2002)

+ # ''(physics)'' The transmission of a [[wave]] or other form of energy, such as light or sound, through a medium or space.^(AHD)^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002)

+ # The extension of a crack in a solid body.^(MW Collegiate)^(MWU 2024)

+ # ''(chemistry)'' The self-perpetuating step or steps in a [[chain reaction]].^(OED 1989)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[propagational]]

+ * [[nonpropagation]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[propagate]]

+ * [[propaganda]]

+ * [[pact]]

+ * [[page]]

+ * [[compact]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}