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multiplico

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word multiplico

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
81–43 BC, Cicero
Ultimate origin
Latin (multiplex)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin multiplex
French multiple
English multiple
Latin multiplico

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [mʊɫˈtɪ.plɪ.koː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [mulˈtiː.pli.ko][1]

Forms

multiplicō (present infinitive multiplicāre, perfect active multiplicāvī, supine multiplicātum); first conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin multiplex (“manifold”) + -ō, as Priscian already saw.[2][3][4] Wiktionary analyses it as multus (“much”) with plicō (“to fold”).[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cicero writes to his brother that they may come away with their glory multiplied.[2]

Semantic evolution

It means to increase in number, quantity or extent, to multiply: Caesar has debt multiplied, a letter of Plancus forces and auxiliaries increased, and Ovid rivers swollen by gathered waters.[2][4] Livy uses it of holding high offices many times over, and Curtius of a sound multiplied by echo in the woods.[2] In mathematics it is to multiply: Vitruvius reckons that a side of 14 feet gives 196 square feet.[2] Late texts such as the Itala, the Vulgate psalms and Martianus Capella have shortened perfect forms like multiplicāstī.[3] Church Latin also uses it of enriching.[5] English multiply (mid-12th century) came through Old French multiplier.[6]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of multiplied glory.[2]
  • c. 50 BC – Caesar of debt.[4]
  • c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius of arithmetical multiplication.[2]
  • mid-12th century – English multiply.[6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To increase, augment, multiply; to hold or do many times over; to multiply a sound by echo.[2][4][1][5]
  2. (mathematics) To multiply.[2][1]
  3. (Ecclesiastical Latin) To enrich.[5]

Word family

  • multiplicābilis
  • multiplicātiō
  • multiplicātīvus
  • multiplicātor
  • multiplicus

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
Cite this entry

“Multiplico.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/multiplico. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·