multitude

English

Etymology

From Middle English multitude, multitud, multytude (“(great) amount or number of people or things; multitudinous”),[1] borrowed from Old French multitude (“crowd of people; diversity, wide range”), or directly from its etymon Latin multitūdō (“great amount or number of people or things”),[2] from multus (“many; much”) + -tūdō (suffix forming abstract nouns indicating a state or condition). The English word is analysable as multi- +‎ -itude.

Pronunciation
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈmʌltɪtjuːd/
  • (General American) IPA(key): /ˈmʌltəˌt(j)ud/, /ˈməl-/
  • Audio (GA)(file)
  • Audio (Berkshire, England)(file)
  • Hyphenation: mul‧ti‧tude

Noun

multitude (plural multitudes)

  1. A great amount or number, often of people; abundance, myriad, profusion.
    Synonym: (Northern England, Scotland) hantel, hantle
    • 1892, Walt Whitman, “Song of Myself”, in Leaves of Grass […], Philadelphia, Pa.: David McKay, publisher, […], OCLC 1514723, stanza 51, page 78:
      Do I contradict myself? / Very well then I contradict myself, / (I am large, I contain multitudes.)
    • 1922 February, James Joyce, “[Episode 12: The Cyclops]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, […], OCLC 560090630:
      A torrential rain poured down from the floodgates of the angry heavens upon the bared heads of the assembled multitude which numbered at the lowest computation five hundred thousand persons.
    • 1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter XIV, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, OCLC 1227855:
      “Well, let's hope you're right, darling. In the meantime,” said Kipper, “if I don't get that whisky-and-soda soon, I shall disintegrate. Would you mind if I went in search of it, Mrs Travers?” “It's the very thing I was about to suggest myself. Dash along and drink your fill, my unhappy young stag at eve.” “I'm feeling rather like a restorative, too,” said Bobbie. “Me also,” I said, swept along on the tide of the popular movement. “Though I would advise,” I said, when we were outside, “making it port. More authority. We'll look in on Swordfish. He will provide.” We found Pop Glossop in his pantry polishing silver, and put in our order. He seemed a little surprised at the inrush of such a multitude, but on learning that our tongues were hanging out obliged with a bottle of the best [...]
  2. The mass of ordinary people; the masses, the populace.
    Synonym: crowd
    Pilate, wishing to please the multitude, released Barabbas to them.
    • 1599, “Exodus 23:2”, in Geneva Bible‎, Tolle Lege Press, →ISBN, page 83:
      Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil

Derived terms

Translations
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Translations to be checked

References
  1. “multitūde, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 3 June 2019.
  2. “multitude, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2003; “multitude”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Further reading

French

Etymology

From Old French multitude.

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /myl.ti.tyd/
  • Audio(file)

Noun

multitude f (plural multitudes)

  1. multitude

Further reading

Old French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin multitūdō (“great amount or number of people or things”), from multus (“many; much”) + -tūdō (suffix forming abstract nouns indicating a state or condition).

Noun

multitude f (oblique plural multitudes, nominative singular multitude, nominative plural multitudes)

  1. crowd of people
  2. diversity; wide range

Descendants
  • English: multitude
  • French: multitude
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