multiplicity

UK/ˌmʌltɪˈplɪsɪti/US/ˌmʌltɪˈplɪsɪti/

nounC1Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #14,211 of 15,258mostly written

Other forms: multiplicities

Multiplicity is a great number and variety. A multiplicity of causes, the multiplicity of forms, sheer multiplicity.

It is formal and it does more than many — multiplicity insists on variety as well as number, so a multiplicity of causes means several different kinds. In mathematics multiplicity counts how many times a root repeats.

Definitions of multiplicity

1nounmultiplicityA great number and variety.C1
“The city is home to a multiplicity of languages, religions and cuisines.”

multiplicity is a great number.

Where it comes from

Latin
multiplicitas
English, today
multiplicity

From Latin multiplicitas.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in A Song of Ice and Fire

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multiplicity in the wild

The number of instances given for each element is called the multiplicity of that element in the multiset.
Multiset
In the multiset {a, a, b}, the element a has multiplicity 2, and b has multiplicity 1.
Multiset
In diatonic set theory, structure implies multiplicity is a quality of a collection or scale.
Structure implies multiplicity
Structure refers to the intervals in relation to the circle of fifths; multiplicity refers to the number of times each different (adjacent) interval pattern occurs.
Structure implies multiplicity
In his essay The Idea of Duration, Bergson discusses multiplicity in light of the notion of unity.
Multiplicity (philosophy)

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

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