multiple

American  

[muhl-tuh-puhl] / ˈmʌl tə pəl /

adjective

1. consisting of, having, or involving several or many individuals, parts, elements, relations, etc.; manifold.

2. Electricity.

   1. (of circuits) arranged in parallel.

   2. (of a circuit or circuits) having a number of points at which connection can be made.

3. Botany. (of a fruit) collective.

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noun

• multiples
  plural

1. Mathematics. a number that contains another number an integral number of times without a remainder.

   12 is a multiple of 3.

2. Electricity. a group of terminals arranged to make a circuit or group of circuits accessible at a number of points at any one of which connection can be made.

multiple British  

/ ˈmʌltɪpəl /

adjective

1. having or involving more than one part, individual, etc

   he had multiple injuries

2. electronics (of a circuit) having a number of conductors in parallel

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noun

1. the product of a given number or polynomial and any other one

   6 is a multiple of 2

2. telephony an electrical circuit accessible at a number of points to any one of which a connection can be made

3. short for multiple store

multiple Scientific  

/ mŭl′tə-pəl /

1. A number that may be divided by another number with no remainder. For example, 4, 10, and 32 are multiples of 2.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonmultiple
  adjective
• multiply
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• multiples
  plural

Etymology

Origin of multiple

First recorded in 1570–80; from French, from Late Latin multiplus “manifold”; see multi-

Explanation

When you're talking about more than one, you're talking about multiple things. A machine with many fixtures has multiple parts. A person that seems like two totally different people on different days might have multiple personalities. The word multiple comes from the Latin multiplus meaning "manifold." When something exists in multiple forms, it's manifold, or has many kinds. Think of a multiplex theater that can show multiple movies at once. Walk through a garden full of flowers and you'll see multiple kinds of blooms. A multiple is also a number that can be divided into another number without a remainder. Multiples of five, for example are ten, fifteen, twenty... — you get the picture.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

multiple multiples

Borrowing from a playbook that worked well for economy tickets, airlines are starting to create multiple tiers of their most expensive seats.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 13, 2026

In September 2025, Larry Graves reported to animal services that the dog had bitten him multiple times in the right knee, chest and left forearm outside of a CVS store in Oxnard.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026

Those unable to find glasses used other methods, including colanders as pinhole projectors to cast multiple images of the eclipse.

From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026

South Korea's Kospi surged almost five percent in the opening minutes amid a revival of the AI trade that fuelled the market's eye-watering surge to multiple records this year.

From Barron's ● Aug. 13, 2026

James Garfield suffered through multiple surgeries as his doctors tried and failed to treat his gunshot wound.

From "Ambushed!" by Gail Jarrow

“With each look we would get excited about, we’d need to think, ‘Does it need multiples?

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026

If instead this was done on revenue per World Cup 2026 match, Fifa makes multiples of the Premier League, perhaps more than three times as much.

From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2026

The Russell 1000 Value Index now looks more like a “poor man’s growth index,” driven more by earnings expansion than cheap asset multiples, according to ClearBridge’s Peters.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026

One key holding is Cummins, a diesel-engine manufacturer trading at low multiples while benefiting from a fresh growth catalyst supplying backup generators to data centers.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026

Then you take away all the numbers that are multiples of 2.

From "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" by Mark Haddon

Related Words

• different
• numerous
• various