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multiplex

[muhl-tuh-pleks]
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adjective
  1. having many parts or aspects: the multiplex problem of drug abuse.
  2. manifold; multiple: the multiplex opportunities in high technology.
  3. Telecommunications. of, relating to, or using equipment permitting the simultaneous transmission of two or more trains of signals or messages over a single channel.
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verb (used with object)
  1. Telecommunications.
    1. to arrange (a circuit) for use by multiplex telegraphy.
    2. to transmit (two or more signals or messages) by a multiplex system, circuit, or the like.
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verb (used without object)
  1. to send several messages or signals simultaneously, as by multiplex telegraphy.
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noun
  1. a multiplex electronics system.
  2. (in map making) a stereoscopic device that makes it possible to view pairs of aerial photographs in three dimensions.
  3. 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.
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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. 2018

Examples from the Web for multiplex

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • For the form of contrarieties is multiplex, as logicians teach.

  • 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.

  • In the multiplex theism of certain Christian churches, three entirely distinct deities consistent with only one.

British Dictionary definitions for multiplex

multiplex

noun
  1. telecomm
    1. 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
    2. (as modifier)a multiplex transmitter
    1. a purpose-built complex containing a number of cinemas and usually a restaurant or bar
    2. (as modifier)a multiplex cinema
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adjective
  1. designating a method of map-making using three cameras to produce a stereoscopic effect
  2. a less common word for multiple
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verb
  1. to send (messages or signals) or (of messages or signals) be sent by multiplex
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Word Origin

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).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper