multiplex

[muhl-tuh-pleks]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR multiplex ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

having many parts or aspects: the multiplex problem of drug abuse.

manifold; multiple: the multiplex opportunities in high technology.

Telecommunications. of, relating to, or using equipment permitting the simultaneous transmission of two or more trains of signals or messages over a single channel.

verb (used with object)

Telecommunications.

to arrange (a circuit) for use by multiplex telegraphy.
to transmit (two or more signals or messages) by a multiplex system, circuit, or the like.

verb (used without object)

to send several messages or signals simultaneously, as by multiplex telegraphy.

noun

a multiplex electronics system.

(in map making) a stereoscopic device that makes it possible to view pairs of aerial photographs in three dimensions.

Also called multiplex cinema, multiplex theater. a group of two or more motion-picture theaters on the same site or in the same building, especially a cluster of adjoining theaters.

RELATED WORDS

Origin of multiplex

From Latin, dating back to 1550–60; see origin at multi-, -plex

Related formsmul·ti·plex·er, mul·ti·plex·or, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for multiplex

Contemporary Examples of multiplex

Nowadays, it looks like Anschutz is trying to get out of the multiplex business.
The Right-Wing Billionaire Who Bowed to North Korea over ‘The Interview’
Asawin Suebsaeng
December 19, 2014
What was the point of Outfest when you could see the next Todd Haynes movie in the multiplex?
Hollywood’s Evolving Heart: How Movies Grew to Love Gays
Teo Bugbee
May 28, 2014
Twelve people died when a madman opened fire at a multiplex cinema in Colorado in 2012.
Inside the NYPD’s Report on the Kenya Shopping Mall Massacre
Christopher Dickey
December 10, 2013
What movie was showing when James Eagan Holmes opened fire at that multiplex in Aurora, Colo.
The Ultimate 2012 Quiz
Michael Tomasky
December 27, 2012
This weekend pits two damsels in distress against one another at the multiplex.
Damsels in Distress Debate: The New ‘Twilight Saga’ vs. ‘Anna Karenina’
Anna Klassen, Marlow Stern
November 17, 2012

Historical Examples of multiplex

For the form of contrarieties is multiplex, as logicians teach.
Commentary on Genesis, Vol. I
Martin Luther
For that which is in itself one, men imagine to be multiplex.
On the Improvement of the Understanding
Baruch Spinoza [Benedict de Spinoza]
At one angle of his multiplex character the man must have been a born actor.
Twelve Men
Theodore Dreiser
Harrowed by the multiplex difficulties surrounding an intrigue, Persis was kept waiting at the door a long time in the cold.
What Will People Say?
Rupert Hughes
In the multiplex theism of certain Christian churches, three entirely distinct deities consistent with only one.
The Devil's Dictionary
Ambrose Bierce

British Dictionary definitions for multiplex

multiplex

noun

telecomm

the use of a common communications channel for sending two or more messages or signals. In frequency-division multiplex the frequency band transmitted by the common channel is split into narrower bands each of which constitutes a distinct channel. In time-division multiplex different channels are established by intermittent connections to the common channel
(as modifier)a multiplex transmitter

a purpose-built complex containing a number of cinemas and usually a restaurant or bar
(as modifier)a multiplex cinema

adjective

designating a method of map-making using three cameras to produce a stereoscopic effect

a less common word for multiple

verb

to send (messages or signals) or (of messages or signals) be sent by multiplex

Word Origin for multiplex

C16: from Latin: having many folds, from multi- + plicāre to 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 multiplex

1550s (adj.), 1560s (n.), in mathematics, from Latin multiplex "having many folds; many times as great in number; of many parts" (see multiply).