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multiplicity
[ muhl-tuh-plis-i-tee ]
noun
- a large number or variety:
a multiplicity of errors.
- the state of being multiplex or manifold; manifold variety.
multiplicity
/ ˌmʌltɪˈplɪsɪtɪ /
noun
- a large number or great variety
- the state of being multiple
- 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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Word History and Origins
Origin of multiplicity1
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Example Sentences
Last year the Unicode Consortium—the group responsible for the selection and design of emoji—released a new series that reflected the multiplicity of gender identities.
One person writing about their experience doesn’t take away from all the multiplicity of the other narratives and feelings.
The multiplicity, therefore, becomes essential, as the poems are rarely frozen in a single feeling.
To be an astrobiologist means becoming acutely aware of the living world and our place within its multiplicity of layers and branches.
Indeed, the multiplicity of actors in this informational struggle, state or not, makes such a designation difficult.
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.
They vote on a multiplicity of concerns, of which Israel is a part, but hardly, for most of them, the determining factor.
From this multiplicity of voices Williams constructs a beautifully harmonious and satisfyingly substantial whole.
The problem is a highly complicated one, and no doubt many causes have to do with the multiplicity of effects.
When for the first time Intelligence contemplated the Good, this its contemplation split the Good's unity into multiplicity.
The multiplicity of the intelligences implies therefore a difference between them.107 But how does each differ from the others?
But (in the Divinity) (these three, choice, being and will) do not form a multiplicity; they must be considered as having fused.
If we are to study the world from the standpoint of forms, our study will be almost endless in its multiplicity.
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More About Multiplicity
What does multiplicity mean?
Multiplicity most commonly means a large number or a great variety.
It is the noun form of the adjective multiple, meaning more than one or several. It can also mean the state of being multiple.
Multiplicity is used in more specific ways in several different scientific fields, but all of them have to do with multiple instances of things.
Example: When designing a craft for space travel, you have to consider a multiplicity of issues.
Where does multiplicity come from?
The first records of multiplicity come from around the 1500s. It comes from the Late Latin multiplicitās, which derives from the Latin multiplex, meaning “multiple.” The suffix -ity is used to form abstract nouns that indicate a state or condition.
Multiplicity is most often used to mean “a large variety” (as in a multiplicity of options) or “a large number” (as in a multiplicity of problems). But sometimes multiplicity doesn’t refer to a variety of things but instead to variety in things. You might have heard the popular line from the poet Walt Whitman: “I contain multitudes.” When he said that, he was referring to the multiplicity of human beings’ internal selves—the way our identities are all made up of various pieces and elements, some of which are contradictory.
In psychology, the word multiplicity is used to describe the state experienced by people with dissociative identity disorder (formerly called multiple personality disorder), in which a person experiences multiple selves. In mathematics, multiplicity is used in relation to equations to refer to the number of times a value occurs. In physics, multiplicity refers to the number of levels that the energy of atoms, molecules, or nuclei splits into in certain scenarios, or the number of elementary particles in a group.
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What are some other forms related to multiplicity?
- multiple (adjective)
What are some synonyms for multiplicity?
What are some words that share a root or word element with multiplicity?
What are some words that often get used in discussing multiplicity?
How is multiplicity used in real life?
Multiplicity most commonly means “a great variety,” but using the phrase a great variety (or something similar) is much more common than saying multiplicity. When multiplicity is used, it tends to be used in a somewhat formal or technical way.
infinite thanks to the @nytcooking team for publishing my ten essential Indian recipes, from toor dal to beef kheema, lamb biryani to carrot kosambari — this is a love letter to the multiplicity of Indian home cooking 💌 https://t.co/6KD60eolx2
— Tejal Rao (@tejalrao) March 9, 2020
Yes, we experience multiplicity as an emerging-into-public-awareness form of neurodiversity, a neutral and widely-occuring spectrum of difference that has both challenges and gifts and advantages. Not inherently bad. Diversity is good.
— the Redwoods: a plural collective (@treemunity) April 9, 2018
State elections have far reaching and long standing consequences that affect the moral and social groundwork for its citizens in a multiplicity of ways. Common knowledge – I realize; but as a citizen of the great Commonwealth of #Virginia, it needs to be restated. #VA
— Adam S. Denny (@Adam22Denny) April 12, 2020
Try using multiplicity!
Which of the following words is NOT a synonym of multiplicity?
A. variety
B. assortment
C. abundance
D. lack
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