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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

mul·ti·pli·ca·tion       (mŭl'tə-plĭ-kā'shən)  Pronunciation Key  n.   The act or process of multiplying or the condition of being multiplied. Propagation of plants and animals; procreation. Mathematics The operation that, for positive integers, consists of adding a number (the multiplicand) to itself a certain number of times. The operation is extended to other real numbers according to the rules governing the multiplicational properties of positive integers. Any of certain analogous operations involving expressions other than real numbers. mul'ti·pli·ca'tion·al adj.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
multiplication 

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

multiplication
noun
1.	the act of producing offspring or multiplying by such production [syn: generation]
2.	a multiplicative increase; "repeated copying leads to a multiplication of errors"; "this multiplication of cells is a natural correlate of growth"
3.	an arithmetic operation that is the inverse of division; the product of two numbers is computed; "the multiplication of four by three gives twelve"; "four times three equals twelve"

The American Heritage Science Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

multiplication       (mŭl'tə-plĭ-kā'shən)  Pronunciation Key  A mathematical operation performed on a pair of numbers in order to derive a third number called a product. For positive integers, multiplication consists of adding a number (the multiplicand) to itself a specified number of times. Thus multiplying 6 by 3 means adding 6 to itself three times. The operation of multiplication is extended to other real numbers according to the rules governing the multiplicational properties of positive integers. Any of certain analogous operations involving expressions other than real numbers.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

multiplication

Com"pound\, a. [OE. compouned, p. p. of compounen. See Compound, v. t.] Composed of two or more elements, ingredients, parts; produced by the union of several ingredients, parts, or things; composite; as, a compound word.

Compound substances are made up of two or more simple substances. --I. Watts.

Compound addition, subtraction, multiplication, division (Arith.), the addition, subtraction, etc., of compound numbers.

Compound crystal (Crystallog.), a twin crystal, or one seeming to be made up of two or more crystals combined according to regular laws of composition.

Compound engine (Mech.), a form of steam engine in which the steam that has been used in a high-pressure cylinder is made to do further service in a larger low-pressure cylinder, sometimes in several larger cylinders, successively.

Compound ether. (Chem.) See under Ether.

Compound flower (Bot.), a flower head resembling a single flower, but really composed of several florets inclosed in a common calyxlike involucre, as the sunflower or dandelion.

Compound fraction. (Math.) See Fraction.

Compound fracture. See Fracture.

Compound householder, a householder who compounds or arranges with his landlord that his rates shall be included in his rents. [Eng.]

Compound interest. See Interest.

Compound larceny. (Law) See Larceny.

Compound leaf (Bot.), a leaf having two or more separate blades or leaflets on a common leafstalk.

Compound microscope. See Microscope.

Compound motion. See Motion.

Compound number (Math.), one constructed according to a varying scale of denomination; as, 3 cwt., 1 qr., 5 lb.; -- called also denominate number.

Compound pier (Arch.), a clustered column.

Compound quantity (Alg.), a quantity composed of two or more simple quantities or terms, connected by the sign + (plus) or - (minus). Thus, a + b - c, and bb - b, are compound quantities.

Compound radical. (Chem.) See Radical.

Compound ratio (Math.), the product of two or more ratios; thus ab:cd is a ratio compounded of the simple ratios a:c and b:d.

Compound rest (Mech.), the tool carriage of an engine lathe.

Compound screw (Mech.), a screw having on the same axis two or more screws with different pitch (a differential screw), or running in different directions (a right and left screw).

Compound time (Mus.), that in which two or more simple measures are combined in one; as, 6-8 time is the joining of two measures of 3-8 time.

Compound word, a word composed of two or more words; specifically, two or more words joined together by a hyphen.