multiplicity

[ muhl-tuh-plis-i-tee ]
See synonyms for multiplicity on Thesaurus.com
noun,plural mul·ti·plic·i·ties.
  1. a large number or variety: a multiplicity of errors.

  2. the state of being multiplex or manifold; manifold variety.

Origin of multiplicity

1
1580–90; <Late Latin multiplicitās, equivalent to multiplic- (stem of multiplex) multiplex + -itās-ity

Words Nearby multiplicity

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use multiplicity in a sentence

  • A cynic might say that the report is like the movie Clue, perfectly set up for a multiplicity of endings.

  • I try to create a multiplicity of experiences within the works so that I can hit the viewer on a variety of levels.

  • Historically the contradictory pressures exerted by the multiplicity of parties has not been good for Israel.

    When the Right is Right | Daniel Gavron | October 9, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
  • They vote on a multiplicity of concerns, of which Israel is a part, but hardly, for most of them, the determining factor.

    Don't Sweat the Jewish Vote | Eric Alterman | September 16, 2011 | THE DAILY BEAST
  • From this multiplicity of voices Williams constructs a beautifully harmonious and satisfyingly substantial whole.

    Must Read Novels | Lucy Scholes, John Wilwol, Randy Rosenthal, Nina MacLaughlin | August 4, 2011 | THE DAILY BEAST
  • The problem is a highly complicated one, and no doubt many causes have to do with the multiplicity of effects.

    Man And His Ancestor | Charles Morris
  • When for the first time Intelligence contemplated the Good, this its contemplation split the Good's unity into multiplicity.

    Plotinos: Complete Works, v. 3 | Plotinos (Plotinus)
  • The multiplicity of the intelligences implies therefore a difference between them.107 But how does each differ from the others?

    Plotinos: Complete Works, v. 3 | Plotinos (Plotinus)
  • But (in the Divinity) (these three, choice, being and will) do not form a multiplicity; they must be considered as having fused.

    Plotinos: Complete Works, v. 3 | Plotinos (Plotinus)
  • If we are to study the world from the standpoint of forms, our study will be almost endless in its multiplicity.

    Evolution of Life and Form | Annie Wood Besant

British Dictionary definitions for multiplicity

multiplicity

/ (ˌmʌltɪˈplɪsɪtɪ) /


nounplural -ties
  1. a large number or great variety

  2. the state of being multiple

  1. physics

    • the number of levels into which the energy of an atom, molecule, or nucleus splits as a result of coupling between orbital angular momentum and spin angular momentum

    • the number of elementary particles in a multiplet

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