| Front | pullulate \PUL-yuh-layt\ |
|---|---|
| Back | verb 1. To sprout or breed. 2. To swarm or teem. 3. To increase rapidly. [To remember the history of "pullulate," think chickens. This may sound like odd advice, but it makes sense if you know that "pullulate" traces ultimately to the Latin noun "pullus," which means not only "sprout," but also "young of an animal" and, specifically, "chick." "Pullus" is also an ancestor of "pullet" ("young hen"), "poult" (meaning "young fowl" and especially "young turkey"), and even "poultry" ("domesticated fowl"). At first "pullulate" referred to sprouting, budding, and breeding around the farm; only later did it gain its "swarm" sense.] “You know less than you think you do. The constant reinforcement of that sorry idea has become a drumbeat under parenting, as advice books of every kind pullulate like toadstools after a storm.” - Andrew Solomon; Go Play Outside; The New York Times; Dec 14, 2014. |
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