plurality

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English pluralite,^[2][3] borrowed from Anglo-Norman pluralité and pluralité,^[4] and partly directly borrowed from Late Latin plūrālitās (“the plural number”).^[4][3][5] Etymonline and Dictionary.com call the French source Old French.^[3][5] In French the word is recorded from the second half of the 13th century for the state of being plural, then for the plural number (about 1320), a great number (about 1350) and a majority (1511).^[4] The Anglo-Norman noun is recorded from about 1230, already also for the holding of several benefices by one person.^[6] The Latin noun meant the plural number and the state of being more than one from the 4th century and a great number from the 6th; in British sources it was used for holding two or more benefices from the late 12th century and for a majority from the 14th.^[4] It is formed from plūrālis (“of more than one, plural”) and the suffix -tās,^[4][7][8] and plūrālis comes from the stem of plūs (“more”).^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The state of being plural, of consisting of more than one: before 1398, in John Trevisa's translation of Bartholomaeus Anglicus.^[4][9] The MED's first sense also covers a number greater than one and numerousness.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Etymonline dates the sense "multitude, fact of there being many" to the mid-15th century,^[3] while the OED's first record of "a large number of" is from 1657.^[4] The church sense, the holding of two or more benefices by one cleric, appears about 1400 in a manuscript of “Piers Plowman”,^[4] or from the mid-14th century in Etymonline,^[3] and was widened in 1647 to the holding of several offices of any kind.^[4][9] The sense "more than half, the greater number" is first recorded in Scotland about 1570;^[4] Etymonline calls it etymologically improper and perhaps modelled on majority.^[3] Johnson (1755) gave "the state of being or having a greater number", "a number more than one", "more cures of souls than one" and "the greater number; the majority".^[10] The American electoral sense, the largest share of the votes when this is less than an absolute majority, is recorded from 1803,^[4][9] and the margin by which the winner leads the next candidate from 1832;^[4] Etymonline dates the American sense to 1828.^[3] Collins notes that British English calls it a relative majority.^[11]

Timeline

• before 1398 – the state of being plural.^[4]
• c. 1400 – the holding of two or more benefices by one cleric.^[4]
• c. 1570 – originally in Scotland, more than half, a majority.^[4]
• 1647 – the holding of several offices at once.^[4]
• 1657 – a large number, a multitude.^[4]
• 1803 – in the United States, the largest share of the votes, short of an absolute majority.^[4]
• 1832 – the margin of the winning candidate over the next one.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. The state or fact of being plural, of being more than one.^[12][7][11]
2. A large number or amount; a multitude: a plurality of opinions on the committee.^[12][7][11]
3. In a contest with more than two choices, the number of votes won by the leading candidate when it is not more than half of all the votes; in British terms a relative majority.^[12][11][7]
4. The number of votes by which the winning candidate leads the runner-up.^[12][11]
5. The greater number or part; a majority.^[11][4]
6. (ecclesiastical) The holding of two or more benefices or offices at one time; pluralism; also, any of the benefices so held.^[12][7][4]
7. (mathematics) A number greater than one.^[11]

Related words

• plural
• plus
• pluralism
• majority

Usage notes

In voting, Dictionary.com distinguishes plurality from majority: where there are only two choices the words can be used alike, though majority is far more common, but with three or more choices a majority is more than half of all the votes cast, while a plurality is only the lead of the top candidate over the next one.^[5] So with 450, 350 and 200 votes the first candidate has a plurality of 100 but no majority.^[5] The American Heritage Dictionary and Collins also use plurality for the winning total itself.^[12][11]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b 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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
7. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
9. ^ a b c Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
10. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
11. ^ a b c d e f g h Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
12. ^ a b c d e f The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt