promulgate

English

Etymology

From Middle English promulgaten, from Latin prōmulgātus, past participle of prōmulgō (“I make known, publish”), either from provulgō (“I make known, publish”), from pro (“forth”) + vulgō (“I publish”), or from mulgeō (“I bring forth”, literally “I milk”). Compare promulge.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈpɹɒml̩.ɡeɪt/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈpɹɑ.məl.ɡeɪt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Verb

promulgate (third-person singular simple present promulgates, present participle promulgating, simple past and past participle promulgated)

1. (transitive) To make known or public.

   Synonyms: declare, proclaim, publish

   Antonym: withhold

   • c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :

     ’Tis yet to know, / Which when I know, that boaſting is an Honour, / I ſhall promulgate. I fetch by life and being, / From Men of Royall Seige.

   • 1784 November 6, William Cowper, “Tirocinium: Or, A Review of Schools”, in Poems, page 303:

     Prieſts have invented, and the world admir’d / What knaviſh prieſts promulgate as inſpir’d ; / ’Till reaſon, now no longer overaw’d, / Reſumes her pow’rs, and ſpurns the clumſy fraud ; / And, common-ſenſe diffuſing real day, / The meteor of the goſpel dies away !

2. (transitive) To put into effect as a regulation.

   Synonyms: carry out, execute, implement, put into effect

   Antonym: abrogate

   • 1881 June 7, William Stubbs, “The Reign of Henry VIII”, in Seventeen Lectures on the Study of Medieval and Modern History and Kindred Subjects, Oxford: Clarendon Press, published 1887, page 293:

     […] the Statute of Uses was delayed until 1536 and the Statute of Wills until 1540, but both statutes were promulgated in 1532, and formed part of a policy which we may compare, not favourably, with the of Edward I […]

Usage notes

This verb is often incorrectly used in the sense of "propagate", "promote", or "disseminate". The verb "promulgate" does not have those senses.

Synonyms

• (to make known or public): See also Thesaurus:announce

Derived terms

Related terms

• promulge

Translations

References

Further reading

• “promulgate”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “promulgate”, in The Century Dictionary , New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “promulgate”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Ido

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /promulˈɡate/

Verb

promulgate

1. adverbial present passive participle of promulgar

Italian

Etymology 1

Verb

promulgate

1. inflection of promulgare:
   1. second-person plural present indicative
   2. second-person plural imperative

Etymology 2

Participle

promulgate f pl

1. feminine plural of promulgato

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /proː.mulˈɡaː.te/,
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /pro.mulˈɡa.te/,

Verb

prōmulgāte

1. second-person plural present active imperative of prōmulgō

Spanish

Verb

promulgate

1. second-person singular voseo imperative of promulgar combined with te