Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. The condition or quality of being numerous.
- n. A very great number.
- n. The masses; the populace: the concerns of the multitude.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. The character of being many; numerousness; also, a great number regarded collectively or as congregated together. Aquinas and others distinguish transcendental and material multitude; but it is difficult to attach any definite conception to transcendental multitude, which is the opposite of transcendental unity. Material multitude is the multitude of individuals of the same species, an expression which supposes matter to be the principle of individuation.
- n. A great number, indefinitely.
- n. A crowd or throng; a gathering or collection of people. According to some ancient legal authorities, it required at least ten to make a multitude.
- n. Synonyms Multitude, Throng, Crowd, swarm, mass, host, legion. A multitude, however great, may he in a space so large as to give each one ample room; a throng or a crowd is generally smaller than a multitude, but is gathered into a close body, a throng being a company that presses together or forward, and a crowd carrying the closeness to uncomfortable physical contact.
Wiktionary
- n. A great amount or number, often of people.
- n. The mass of ordinary people; the populous or the masses
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A great number of persons collected together; a numerous collection of persons; a crowd; an assembly.
- n. A great number of persons or things, regarded collectively
- n. The state of being many; numerousness.
WordNet 3.0
- n. the common people generally
- n. a large gathering of people
- n. a large indefinite number
Etymologies
- Middle English, from Old French, from Latin multitūdō, from multus, many; see mel-2 in Indo-European roots.
Examples
“The name of Democracy was assumed because it was discovered to be _very taking_ among the multitude; yet, after all, it is but the investment of the _multitude_ with absolute power.”
“Burke's phrase of "the swinish multitude," applied to mobs, was then in every body's mouth; and, accordingly, after my brother had recovered from his first astonishment at this audacious mutiny, he made us several sweeping bows that looked very much like tentative rehearsals of a sweeping _fusillade_, and then addressed us in a very brief speech, of which we could distinguish the words _pearls_ and _swinish multitude_, but uttered in a very low key, perhaps out of some lurking consideration for the two young strangers.”
“WaMu attorney Brian Rosen said he hoped additional negotiations scheduled for Monday will result in an understanding on what he called a multitude of issues.”
“The eloquence of Rienzi was prompt and persuasive: the multitude is always prone to envy and censure: he was stimulated by the loss of a brother and the impunity of the assassins; nor was it possible to excuse or exaggerate the public calamities.”
“Listen, with all your ears ere I chew them off in multitude and gross!”
“If the multitude is possessed of the balance of real estate, the multitude will take care of the liberty, virtue, and interest of the multitude, in all acts of government.”
Think Progress » Bush Administration Developing Plans To Keep 50,000 U.S. Troops In Iraq For Decades
“And he called the multitude, and said unto them, Hear, and understand:”
“I hope the multitude is just waiting for the NC-17 parts.”
“¶ And he called the multitude, and said unto them, Hear, and understand:”
“To prove all this he called a multitude of witnesses, who kissed the same book and swore the same thing almost in the same words.”
The Reminiscences Of Sir Henry Hawkins
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘multitude’.
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Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 1128 more...
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Yazhinni Spelling bee
tongue, stallion, scruple, salinity, schedule, rouge, populist, Permian, perspire, pasteurize, multitude, mournful and 227 more...
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Groups
Words synonymous with 'group.'
congregation, crowd, gaggle, flock, clique, bunch, cluster, herd, mass, mob, multitude, organization and 118 more...
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I do itude
words - real or unreal - ending in -itude: An it-ode as opposed to an itune???
worditude, habitude, lippitude, vicissitude, vastitude, unitude, spissitude, lenitude, latitude, lenticitude, locticitude, lentitude and 66 more...
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mult-, multi-
having many
multicolored, multilateral, multimillionaire, multiple, multiplex, multitude
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