multiform
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of multiform
From the Latin word multiformis, dating back to 1595–1605. See multi-, -form
Explanation
If you describe something as multiform, it can exist in many forms. By its nature, a transformer toy that can double as a car and as a robot can be called multiform. Many illnesses are multiform, like cancer, because they come in all different types with all sorts of symptoms and characteristics. But good things can be multiform as well; think of the multiform Hindu deity Vishnu with ten different avatars that range from a fish to a boar to a tortoise.
Vocabulary lists containing multiform
Vocabulary Video Contest (2013) - List 2
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Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Prefixes: multi-
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Florida's B.E.S.T. Roots: multi
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
He interprets one multiform category, “Monster,” from an original angle — the creature’s physical characteristics.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 30, 2021
Tokarczuk’s approach, like Melville’s, is encyclopedic and multiform.
From The New Yorker ● Sep. 24, 2018
ET12:24 A check-in with the University of Florida’ election analyst Michael McDonald on that other primary race and its multiform competitors.
From The Guardian ● Nov. 19, 2015
The show shapes up as a multiform revue with a relaxed fourth wall.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 3, 2011
Thus arise differentiations of structure, a transition from a uniform to a multiform state, a passage from homogeneity to heterogeneity, and this must go on cumulatively.
From Herbert Spencer by Thomson, J. Arthur (John Arthur)
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
