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multiplex

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Etymology and origin of the English word multiplex

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1398 before 1398, Trevisa's translation of Bartholomaeus Anglicus More words from the 14th century
Borrowed from
Latin multiplex via Middle English
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin multiplex
English multiplex
French multiple
English multiple
From the same root
Latin multiplicō ← multiplex

Pronunciation

  • /ˈmʌl.tiˌplɛks/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English multiplex,[2] borrowed from Latin multiplex (“divided into many parts, having many forms, many times as many”),[3][4][5][2] formed from multi- (“many, much”) and -plex (“-fold”).[3][5][6] Klein and Collins connect the second element with plicō (“to fold, twist”),[7][8] and Etymonline and the American Heritage Dictionary trace it to Proto-Indo-European *plek- (“to plait”).[4][5] The OED compares Middle French multiplex (about 1390), Italian molteplice (before 1332) and Spanish multíplice (1567).[3] The verb is a conversion of the adjective.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of a number, being a multiple of another: before 1398, in Trevisa's translation of Bartholomaeus Anglicus, where such a number contains the smaller one two, three or four times.[2][3] The MED and Etymonline class this use as a noun, and the OED as an adjective.[2][4][3]

Semantic evolution

For more than two centuries the word stayed mostly in the language of arithmetic and music theory: the MED and the OED record it for a kind of harmonic proportion from before 1450,[2][3] and the OED follows the mathematical adjective to 1690 and the noun to 1695.[3] Etymonline and Dictionary.com date the adjective to the 1550s,[4][9] and the general sense "having many parts or aspects" is recorded from 1606, in T. Palmer's essay on making travel more profitable,[3][10] which the Shorter Oxford puts in the late 17th century.[6] The word gained a new life in telecommunications, first as an adjective for sending several signals at once over one line (1873, in a British patent),[3] then as a verb (1885)[3][10] and as a noun for such a system (1959).[3][10] Its best-known modern use is for a cinema complex with several auditoria on one site, recorded as an adjective in 1971 and as a noun in 1972.[3]

Timeline

  • before 1398 – a multiple in arithmetic.[2][3]
  • before 1450 – of a harmonic proportion in music.[2][3]
  • 1606 – having many aspects, parts or features.[3][10] Etymonline and Dictionary.com date the adjective to the 1550s.[4][9]
  • 1813 – in botany and zoology, multiple.[3]
  • 1873 – of a system that sends several signals at once.[3]
  • 1885 – verb, to make a line carry several signals at once.[3][10]
  • 1890 – in pathology, multiple, mainly in scientific Latin names of diseases.[3]
  • 1959 – noun, a multiplex system or signal.[3][10]
  • 1969 – noun, something made up of many interrelated parts.[3]
  • 1971 – of a cinema complex, having several auditoria.[3]
  • 1972 – noun, such a cinema complex.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A complex that houses several cinemas on one site: The new multiplex by the ring road has twelve screens.[8][10][3]
  2. (telecommunications) A system or signal in which several messages share one channel.[8][10][3]
  3. Something made up of many interrelated parts or features.[3]
  4. A stereoscopic instrument for making topographic maps from aerial photographs.[10]
  5. (mathematics, obsolete, 1570–1695) A multiple.[3][6]

Adjective

  1. Having many parts or elements; manifold.[10][3][6]
  2. (telecommunications) Relating to the sending of several signals at once over one circuit or channel.[10][3][8]
  3. Of a cinema complex, having several auditoria.[3]
  4. (mathematics, obsolete, before 1398–1690) Being a multiple of another number.[3][6]

Verb

  1. (telecommunications) To send several messages or signals by such a system, or to make a line carry them.[10][3]

Word family

  • multiplexer

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  6. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  8. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  9. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Multiplex.” Etymologically, 5 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/en/multiplex. Accessed 5 Nov. 2026.

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