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[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii]:

     ’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

• promogulate
• promulgater
• promulgation
• promulgator
• promulgatory

 

Related terms

• promulge

Translations

to make known public

• Armenian: հրապարակել (hy) (hraparakel)
• Bulgarian: обявявам (bg) (objavjavam)
• Catalan: promulgar (ca)
• Czech: uvést (cs) pf, uvádět (cs) impf, zveřejnit (cs) pf, zveřejňovat (cs) impf, uveřejnit pf, uveřejňovat impf, šířit (cs) impf, rozšiřovat impf, rozšířit (cs) pf
• Finnish: julistaa (fi), levittää (fi)
• French: promulguer (fr)
• German: verkünden (de), bekanntmachen
• Italian: promulgare (it), proclamare (it)
• Ladin: promulgher
• Latin: promulgo
• Polish: promulgować (pl) impf
• Portuguese: promulgar (pt)
• Romanian: promulga (ro)
• Russian: опублико́вывать (ru) (opublikóvyvatʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Roman: promulgírati (sh), obnárodovati (sh) pf

• Spanish: promulgar (es)
• Swedish: förkunna (sv), kungöra (sv)

to put into effect as a regulation

• Bulgarian: публикувам (bg) (publikuvam)
• Catalan: promulgar (ca)
• Czech: zavést (cs) pf, zavádět impf
• Dutch: uitvaardigen (nl)
• Finnish: saattaa voimaan, hyväksyttää (fi)
• French: promulguer (fr)
• German: erlassen (de)
• Italian: promulgare (it)
• Russian: опублико́вывать (ru) (opublikóvyvatʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Roman: promulgírati (sh)

• Spanish: promulgar (es)
• Swedish: utfärda (sv), promulgera (sv)

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/, [proːmʊɫ̪ˈɡäːt̪ɛ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /pro.mulˈɡa.te/, [promulˈɡäːt̪e]

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