multiple

/ˈmʌltəpəl/MUHL-tuh-puhl

/ˈmʌltəpəl/MUHL-tuh-puhl

Meaningmany-fold

Common meaning: many

Other meanings: several

multmuch, manyLewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), p. 1171 · scan
pleto foldLewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), p. 1387 · scan

‘much, many’ + ‘to fold’ → multiple

Journey through time

mult — Latin multus “much, many” (path traced)
ple — Latin plicō, plicāvī “to fold” (path traced)

Latinmultus + plicō, plicāvī‘much, many + to fold’
Englishmultiple‘many’ · today

mult also in: multiply multitude

ple also in: apply reply employ complex explicit

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Built on Latin multus ‘much, many’ + Latin plicō ‘to fold’.

Did you know (Latin plicare, "to…): our wording, based on Lewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), entry plicō, p. 1387 · dictionary scan

Did you know (Latin multus, many,…): our wording, based on Lewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), entry multus, p. 1171 · dictionary scan

Roots

multus Latin “much, many”
plicō, plicāvī Latin “to fold”

Related words

multiply multitude apply complex duplicate employ explicit quadruple reply

Building blocks are an automatic split · open in app