pullulate (2009-08-27)

Part of Speech: verb

Pronunciation: ['pê-lyê-leyt]

Definition: (1) To sprout many buds, as deciduous trees and shrubs pullulate in the spring; (2) to reproduce in numbers, to teem (with).

Usage: Amaze your friends and make them give you strange looks by using this word, "I just love all the pullulation that comes with the first days of spring!" However, anything that buds in any sense of the word may be described by this word: "Sheila has reached that dangerous stage in her development when her opinions are just beginning to pullulate."

Suggested Usage: No, it isn't what the coach does in the fourth quarter when you aren't performing, but a youthful word (see Etymology) expressing birth and growth. The noun is "pullulation" and the adjective is "pullulative," though the British seem to prefer "pullulant," if the Oxford English Dictionary is any indication.

Etymology: Today's word comes from the Latin verb "pullulare" (past participle, "pullulatus"), from pullulus "very young," diminutive of pullus "young, young bird." If you are thinking "pullet," you are absolutely correct—that word comes from the same Latin root. But the original root was pau- "little, few," which also occurs in Latin paucus "small, few," pauper "poor," and the name "Paul" (from "Paullus"). In English and other Germanic languages the Proto-Indo-European [p] became [f], so we are not surprised that English has a word "few."