plethuno describes an increase in people, things, or blessings.

The dominant usage describes growth or increase in quantity, number, or extent: disciples, people, the word of God, seed, and lawlessness are presented as increasing. A smaller cluster uses the verb in wishes that grace, peace, mercy, and love may be increased for the recipients.

1. Increase in number, supply, or extent · dominant

   In Acts 6:1, the present active participle occurs while the disciples are increasing; the APB renders the clause “while the disciples were multiplying.” In Acts 6:7, the imperfect passive indicative stands with the number of disciples in Jerusalem, which the APB says “was multiplying greatly”; Acts 12:24 similarly places the imperfect passive form in the statement that the word of God “was being multiplied.” The future active indicative in 2 Corinthians 9:10 occurs with seed, while Matthew 24:12 uses an aorist passive infinitive in the clause that lawlessness “will be multiplied.”

   Acts 6:1Acts 6:7Acts 12:24Acts 7:172 Corinthians 9:10Matthew 24:12
2. Wish for blessings to increase · common

   In 1 Peter 1:2, 2 Peter 1:2, and Jude 1:2, the third-person aorist passive optative appears in blessing-like clauses addressed to the recipients. The APB renders these clauses as requests that grace and peace, or mercy, peace, and love, “be multiplied to you.”

   1 Peter 1:22 Peter 1:2Jude 1:2

In the Anselm Project Bible: The APB varies its presentation across the verses, using “multiplying,” “was being multiplied,” “increased in numbers,” and “be multiplied.” These are renderings of whole clauses rather than fixed English equivalents for the term.