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manifold

[man-uh-fohld]
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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.
  3. using, functioning with, or operating several similar or identical devices at the same time.
  4. (of paper business forms) made up of a number of sheets interleaved with carbon paper.
  5. being such or so designated for many reasons: a manifold enemy.
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noun
  1. something having many different parts or features.
  2. a copy or facsimile, as of something written, such as is made by manifolding.
  3. any thin, inexpensive paper for making carbon copies on a typewriter.
  4. Machinery. a chamber having several outlets through which a liquid or gas is distributed or gathered.
  5. Philosophy. (in Kantian epistemology) the totality of discrete items of experience as presented to the mind; the constituents of a sensory experience.
  6. Mathematics. a topological space that is connected and locally Euclidean.Compare locally Euclidean space.
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verb (used with object)
  1. to make copies of, as with carbon paper.
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Origin of manifold

before 1000; Middle English; Old English manigf(e)ald (adj.). See many, -fold
Related formsman·i·fold·ly, adverbman·i·fold·ness, noun

Synonyms

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1. various, multitudinous. See many. 2. varied, divers, multifarious.

Antonyms

1. simple, single.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

multipliedmultiplevariedassorteddiversifiedcomplexcopiousdifferentdiversemultifariousmultitudinousnumeroussundryvariousmultiformdiversiformmultifold

Examples from the Web for manifold

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • And you think that with all your manifold advantages you're a happier man than me.

    The Slave Of The Lamp

    Henry Seton Merriman

  • She answered me as follows: 'There is poetry, which, as you know, is complex and manifold.

  • We mean the integrity of impression made by manifold natural objects.

    Nature

    Ralph Waldo Emerson

  • The difficulties of introducing a sportsman-like ideal have been manifold.

  • His weaknesses were manifold, but, on the whole, of a negative kind.

British Dictionary definitions for manifold

manifold

adjective formal
  1. of several different kinds; multiplemanifold reasons
  2. having many different forms, features, or elementsmanifold breeds of dog
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noun
  1. something having many varied parts, forms, or features
  2. a copy of a page, book, etc
  3. 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
  4. maths
    1. a collection of objects or a set
    2. a topological space having specific properties
  5. (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
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verb
  1. (tr) to duplicate (a page, book, etc)
  2. to make manifold; multiply
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Derived Formsmanifolder, nounmanifoldly, adverbmanifoldness, noun

Word Origin

Old English manigfeald. See many, -fold
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

Word Origin and History for manifold

adj.

Old English monigfald (Anglian), manigfeald (West Saxon), "various, varied in appearance, complicated; numerous, abundant," from manig (see many) + -feald (see -fold). A common Germanic compound (cf. Old Frisian manichfald, Middle Dutch menichvout, German mannigfalt, Swedish mångfalt, Gothic managfalþs), perhaps a loan-translation of Latin multiplex (see multiply). Retains the original pronunciation of many. Old English also had a verbal form, manigfealdian "to multiply, abound, increase, extend."

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adv.

Old English manigfealdlic "in various ways, manifoldly," from the source of manifold (adj.).

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n.

in mechanical sense, first as "pipe or chamber with several outlets," 1884, see manifold (adj.); originally as manifold pipe (1857), with reference to a type of musical instrument mentioned in the Old Testament.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
manifold in Science

manifold

[măn′ə-fōld′]
  1. A topological space or surface.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.