manifold

[ man-uh-fohld ]
See synonyms for manifold on Thesaurus.com
adjective
  1. of many kinds; numerous and varied: manifold duties.

  2. having numerous different parts, elements, features, forms, etc.: a manifold program for social reform.

  1. using, functioning with, or operating several similar or identical devices at the same time.

  2. (of paper business forms) made up of a number of sheets interleaved with carbon paper.

  3. being such or so designated for many reasons: a manifold enemy.

noun
  1. something having many different parts or features.

  2. a copy or facsimile, as of something written, such as is made by manifolding.

  1. any thin, inexpensive paper for making carbon copies on a typewriter.

  2. Machinery. a chamber having several outlets through which a liquid or gas is distributed or gathered.

  3. Philosophy. (in Kantian epistemology) the totality of discrete items of experience as presented to the mind; the constituents of a sensory experience.

  4. Mathematics. a topological space that is connected and locally Euclidean.: Compare locally Euclidean space.

verb (used with object)
  1. to make copies of, as with carbon paper.

Origin of manifold

1
First recorded before 1000; Middle English; Old English manigf(e)ald (adjective). See many, -fold

synonym study For manifold

1. See many.

Other words for manifold

Opposites for manifold

Other words from manifold

  • man·i·fold·ly, adverb
  • man·i·fold·ness, noun

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

How to use manifold in a sentence

  • Is infinity this distance carried to the extreme, because it is an innumerable manifoldness?

    Plotinos: Complete Works, v. 3 | Plotinos (Plotinus)
  • Besides, there is nothing to surprise any one if in spite of that we assert a manifoldness in the divinity.

    Plotinos: Complete Works, v. 3 | Plotinos (Plotinus)
  • From the ball as a symbol of unity, we pass over in a consecutive manner to the manifoldness of form in the cube.

    Froebel's Gifts | Kate Douglas Wiggin
  • There was something elusive in the manifoldness of his nature.

    Lincoln, the Politician | T. Aaron Levy
  • All living unity is spiritual, not formal; not sameness, but manifoldness.

    Sermons Preached at Brighton | Frederick W. Robertson

British Dictionary definitions for manifold

manifold

/ (ˈmænɪˌfəʊld) /


adjectiveformal
  1. of several different kinds; multiple: manifold reasons

  2. having many different forms, features, or elements: manifold breeds of dog

noun
  1. something having many varied parts, forms, or features

  2. a copy of a page, book, etc

  1. a chamber or pipe with a number of inlets or outlets used to collect or distribute a fluid. In an internal-combustion engine the inlet manifold carries the vaporized fuel from the carburettor to the inlet ports and the exhaust manifold carries the exhaust gases away

  2. maths

    • a collection of objects or a set

    • a topological space having specific properties

  3. (in the philosophy of Kant) the totality of the separate elements of sensation which are then organized by the active mind and conceptualized as a perception of an external object

verb
  1. (tr) to duplicate (a page, book, etc)

  2. to make manifold; multiply

Origin of manifold

1
Old English manigfeald. See many, -fold

Derived forms of manifold

  • manifolder, noun
  • manifoldly, adverb
  • manifoldness, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for manifold

manifold

[ mănə-fōld′ ]


  1. A topological space or surface.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.