Etymologically
Log in

multiple

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 17 October 2026 at 21:00. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /myl.tipl/[1]

Forms

multiple (plural multiples)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin multiplex (“with many folds; manifold, numerous”),[2][3][4][5] formed from multus (“much, many”) and the element “-plex” of multiplicative adjectives such as duplex and simplex,[3][2] which belongs to the Indo-European root of plicō (“to fold”) and plectō (“to plait”).[2][3] The forms “multiplex” and “multiplice” are found in Evrart de Conty (1390).[2][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in 1572, in the municipal registers of Bayonne, as a term of arithmetic;[2][3] nombre multiple is in Trenchant's Arithmétique (1618).[2]

Semantic evolution

Outside mathematics it came to mean “made up of several similar parts”: multiple echoes (1755), a multiple pulley (1765), a multiple ovary in botany (1798) and the sujet multiple of grammar (1854).[2][3] The general senses “existing in several examples” (Lamarck, 1809) and “taking various forms” (Maine de Biran, 1823) date from the early 19th century;[2][3] the sense “not simple, diverse” is in Bonnet (1760) and Michelet's ce vaste et multiple monde du moyen âge.[7][8]

As a noun, un multiple is the multiple of a number,[8][9] and in 1905 it named a telephone exchange switchboard.[2][10] In art it is a work produced in several copies.[9]

Timeline

  • 1390 – Multiplex, multiplice in Evrart de Conty.[2]
  • 1552 – Sous-multiple.[3]
  • 1572 – Multiple in arithmetic.[2]
  • 1618 – Nombre multiple.[2]
  • 1765 – Poulie multiple.[2]
  • 1809 – “Existing in several examples”, in Lamarck.[2]
  • 1905 – A telephone switchboard.[2]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Made up of several parts or elements: prise multiple, écho multiple.[8][9]
  2. Multiple, numerous; many and varied: à usages multiples.[9][2]
  3. (literary) Diverse, not simple: une réalité multiple.[8][11]
  4. (mathematics) Multiple de: that is a multiple of: 21 est multiple de 7.[8]

Noun

  1. (mathematics) A multiple: le plus petit commun multiple.[8][9]
  2. A work of art issued in several copies.[9]

Word family

  • multipliable
  • démultiplier
  • sous-multiple
  • multiplier
  • multiplicité
  • multiplication

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 6/3, 203b
  6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  8. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  9. ^ a b c d e f Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
  10. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  11. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)