multiple

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈmʌltɪpəl/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French multiple,^[2][3][4] from Late Latin multiplus (“manifold”),^[2][3][4] from Latin multi- (“many, much”) and -plus (“-fold”).^[2][3][5] The Shorter Oxford and the Concise Oxford call the Late Latin word an alteration of multiplex,^[4][6] which Merriam-Webster and Klein give as the source.^[7][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Consisting of many parts or elements; manifold (1647).^[9][3][7][2]

Semantic evolution

As a noun in arithmetic, a number that contains another an exact number of times, it dates from the 1680s (1685 in Barnhart, 1660 in Merriam-Webster).^[3][2][7] In medicine, botany and zoology it describes something made up of many similar units (1676).^[10] Many special uses arose in the 19th and 20th centuries:^[9][2] multiple sclerosis, so called by 1877 because it occurs in patches;^[2] multiple personality (1886);^[2] multiple exposure in photography (1891);^[2] multiple-choice questions (1915);^[2] and in Britain a multiple shop or multiple, one of a chain of shops under one owner (1903, as a noun 1951).^[9][10] In the art world a multiple is a work produced in many copies (1968),^[10] and in finance a share price expressed as a multiple of earnings (1983).^[10][11]

Timeline

• 1647 – consisting of many parts.^[9][3][7]
• 1660s–1680s – as a noun, a number divisible by another.^[7][3][2]
• 1877 – multiple sclerosis.^[2]
• 1886 – multiple personality.^[2]
• 1903 – multiple shop.^[9]
• 1915 – multiple choice.^[2]
• 1968 – a mass-produced work of art.^[10]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Having or involving more than one part, element or individual; manifold.
2. Many and various.
3. (medicine) Affecting several parts of the body.

Noun

1. (mathematics) A number that can be divided by another number without a remainder, such as 35 of 7.
2. A chain store, one of a group of shops under one owner.
3. A work of art produced in many copies.
4. (finance) A share price expressed as a multiple of earnings per share.

Word family

• multiplet
• nonmultiple
• submultiple
• multiple-choice
• multiple star
• lowest common multiple
• multiple chemical sensitivity

Related words

• multi-
• multiplier
• multiplicity
• multiply
• multiplex
• multitude
• simple
• double
• triple

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
4. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
6. ^ Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
9. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ a b c d e Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
11. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster