from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Proliferous \Pro*lif"er*ous\, a. [L. proles offspring +
-ferous.]
[1913 Webster]
1. (Bot.) Bearing offspring; -- applied to a flower from
within which another is produced, or to a branch or frond
from which another rises, or to a plant which is
reproduced by buds or gemm[ae].
[1913 Webster]
2. (Zool.)
(a) Producing young by budding.
(b) Producing sexual zooids by budding; -- said of the
blastostyle of a hydroid.
(c) Producing a cluster of branchlets from a larger
branch; -- said of corals.
[1913 Webster]
{Proliferous cyst} (Med.), a cyst that produces
highly-organized or even vascular structures. --Paget.
[1913 Webster] -- {Pro*lif"er*ous*ly}, adv.
[1913 Webster]