manifold
[man-uh-fohld]
- of many kinds; numerous and varied: manifold duties.
- having numerous different parts, elements, features, forms, etc.: a manifold program for social reform.
- using, functioning with, or operating several similar or identical devices at the same time.
- (of paper business forms) made up of a number of sheets interleaved with carbon paper.
- being such or so designated for many reasons: a manifold enemy.
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- something having many different parts or features.
- a copy or facsimile, as of something written, such as is made by manifolding.
- any thin, inexpensive paper for making carbon copies on a typewriter.
- Machinery. a chamber having several outlets through which a liquid or gas is distributed or gathered.
- Philosophy. (in Kantian epistemology) the totality of discrete items of experience as presented to the mind; the constituents of a sensory experience.
- Mathematics. a topological space that is connected and locally Euclidean.Compare locally Euclidean space.
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- to make copies of, as with carbon paper.
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Origin of manifold
Synonyms
See more synonyms for manifold on Thesaurus.comAntonyms
1. simple, single.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for manifold
Contemporary Examples
Manifold the wonders,” said Sophocles, “nothing towers more wondrous than man!
First, the Texas governor will have to explain away the manifold gaffes and failures from his last presidential campaign.
But the accomplishments this group has managed to achieve in a very short time are manifold.
My first son was about to be born, and I was terrified that my manifold inadequacies as a man would sabotage my success as a dad.
Tributes to Barzun, who authored a massive shelf full of books from 1932-2004, will and have been manifold.
Historical Examples
And you think that with all your manifold advantages you're a happier man than me.
The Slave Of The LampHenry Seton Merriman
She answered me as follows: 'There is poetry, which, as you know, is complex and manifold.
SymposiumPlato
We mean the integrity of impression made by manifold natural objects.
NatureRalph Waldo Emerson
The difficulties of introducing a sportsman-like ideal have been manifold.
Tales of FishesZane Grey
His weaknesses were manifold, but, on the whole, of a negative kind.
Mark Twain, A Biography, 1835-1910, CompleteAlbert Bigelow Paine
manifold
- of several different kinds; multiplemanifold reasons
- having many different forms, features, or elementsmanifold breeds of dog
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- something having many varied parts, forms, or features
- a copy of a page, book, etc
- 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
- maths
- a collection of objects or a set
- a topological space having specific properties
- (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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- (tr) to duplicate (a page, book, etc)
- to make manifold; multiply
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Word Origin
Old English manigfeald. See many, -fold
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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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
[măn′ə-fōld′]
- 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.