Gikun word derived by applying Chinese-derived spelling 繁息(“multiply”), a term which decomposes into 繁(“flourish”) + 息(“givebirth, multiply”), to native Japanese verb ふえる(fueru, “to multiply”).
※ See also 蕃息 and 繁殖. There are three gikun versions of ふえ (fue) in Genesis 1 (a different version for each time the word is used in regards to different creatures) literally multiplying the way in which this can be written and thereby emphasizing God's command for living things to multiply in the earth.
