Multitude

Definition: Multitude

Multitude

Noun

1. A large indefinite number; "a battalion of ants"; "a multitude of TV antennas".

2. A large gathering of people.

3. The common people generally; "separate the warriors from the mass"; "power to the people".

Date "multitude" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1010. (references)

Etymology: Multitude \Mul"ti*tude\, noun. [French expression multitude, from Latin expression multitudo, multitudinis, from multus much, many; of unknown origin.]. (Websters 1913)

Domain	Definition
Satire	MULTITUDE, n. A crowd; the source of political wisdom and virtue. In a republic, the object of the statesman's adoration. "In a multitude of consellors there is wisdom," saith the proverb. If many men of equal individual wisdom are wiser than any one of them, it must be that they acquire the excess of wisdom by the mere act of getting together. Whence comes it? Obviously from nowhere -- as well say that a range of mountains is higher than the single mountains composing it. A multitude is as wise as its wisest member if it obey him; if not, it is no wiser than its most foolish. Source: Devil's Dictionary.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Synonyms: Multitude

Synonyms: battalion (n), concourse (n), hoi polloi (n), large number (n), mass (n), masses (n), pack (n), people (n), throng (n). (additional references)

Context	Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus).
Assemblage	Crowd, throng, group; flood, rush, deluge; rabble, mob, press, crush, cohue, horde, body, tribe; crew, gang, knot, squad, band, party; swarm, shoal, school, covey, flock, herd, drove; atajo; bunch, drive, force, mulada; remuda; roundup; array, bevy, galaxy; corps, company, troop, troupe, task force; army, regiment; (combatants); host; (multitude); populousness.
Commonalty	Noun: commonalty, democracy; obscurity; low condition, low life, low society, low company; bourgeoisie; mass of the people, mass of society; Brown Jones and Robinson; lower classes, humbler classes, humbler orders; vulgar herd, common herd; rank and file, hoc genus omne; the many, the general,the crowd, the people, the populace, the multitude, the million, the masses, the mobility, the peasantry; king Mob; proletariat; fruges consumere nati, demos, hoi polloi, great unwashed; man in the street.
	Mob; rabble, rabble rout; chaff, rout, horde, canaille; scum of the people, residuum of the people, dregs of the people, dregs of society; swinish multitude, foex populi; trash; profanum vulgus, ignobile vulgus; vermin, riffraff, ragtag and bobtail; small fry.
Conformity	Be regular; Adjective: move in a groove; follow observe the rules, go by the rules, bend to the rules,obey the rules, obey the precedents; comply with, tally with, chime in with, fall in with; be guided by, be regulated by; fall into a custom,fall into a usage; follow the fashion, follow the crowd, follow the multitude; pass muster, do as others do, hurler avec les loups; stand on ceremony; when in Rome do as the Romans do; go with the stream, go with the flow, swim with the stream, swim with the current, swim with the tide, blow with the wind; stick to the beaten track; (habit); keep one in countenance.
Greatness	Noun: greatness; Adjective: magnitude; size; (dimensions); multitude; (number); immensity; enormity; infinity; might, strength, intensity, fullness; importance.
Multitude	Noun: multitude; numerous; Adjective: numerosity, numerality; multiplicity; profusion; (plenty); legion, host; great number, large number, round number, enormous number; a quantity, numbers, array, sight, army, sea, galaxy; scores, peck, bushel, shoal, swarm, draught, bevy, cloud, flock, herd, drove, flight, covey, hive, brood, litter, farrow, fry, nest; crowd; (assemblage); lots; all in the world and his wife.
Plurality	Noun: plurality; a number, a certain number; one or two, two or three; a few, several; multitude; majority.
	Multitude.
Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus.

Crosswords: Multitude

English words defined with "multitude": battalion ♦ clutter ♦ hive, horde, host ♦ jumble ♦ large number, legion ♦ mare's nest, muddle ♦ Negotiosity ♦ Ochlocracy ♦ pack ♦ smother, Spore formation ♦ To be beside one's self, To dry up ♦ welter. (references)

Specialty definitions using "multitude": Antonia ♦ Baal-hamon, Birthday Presents ♦ Collective Noun, Commonwealth ♦ Freedom ♦ GENEROUS, GEOGRAPHER ♦ Hamonah, Hamon-gog ♦ ISO 9660 ♦ JOSEPHINE ♦ Kaswa ♦ lettuce ♦ polycrystalline silicon, polycrystalline TFT material, polycrystalline thin-film-transistor material, Psaphon's Birds ♦ reasoning strategy ♦ Shroud, Sink down, smart card, steerable aerial, steerable antenna ♦ telescope ♦ White Brethren ♦ Xerxes' Tears. (references)

Etymologies containing "multitude": Ochlocracy ♦ Polyonomy. (references)

Non-English Usage: "Multitude" is also a word in the following language with English translations in parentheses.

French (accumulation, crowd, heap, mass, multitude, pile, throng).

Domain	Usage
Lyrics	Spreading his hand to the multitude there (The Prophet's Song; performing artist: Queen; writing credit: Brian May)
Clever	Martyrdom covers a multitude of sins. (references; author: Mark Twain)
Movie/TV Titles	The Multitude Passing Into the City Hall (1901)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Domain	Title
Books	Ellery Queen's a Multitude of Sins (reference) (more book examples)

Music	A Multitude of Family Uses (reference) Big Daddy Multitude (reference) (more classical music examples; more popular music examples)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Thumbnail	Description & Credit	Thumbnail	Description & Credit
	"There stalked a multitude of dreams." / [Federico] Castellon. Credit: National Library of Medicine.		A man is speaking to a multitude of hand-held microphones] / Saxon. Credit: Library of Congress.
	A fine finish is being given this gun stock on the sanding machine. One of the multitude of processes in the manufacture of rifles for the war program. Credit: Library of Congress.
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits.

Author	Quotation
Denis Diderot	The blood of Jesus Christ can cover a multitude of sins, it seems to me.
Diogenes Laertius	Ignorance plays the chief part among men, and the multitude of words.
Menander	Riches cover a multitude of woes.
Oscar Wilde	Charity creates a multitude of sins.
Philip Dormer Stanhope	If ever the multitude deviate into the right, it is always for the wrong reason.
Sir Charles Napier	Success is like war and like charity in religion, it covers a multitude of sins.
Socrates	A multitude of books distracts the mind.
Tibullus	In solitude, be a multitude to thyself.
Virgil	The wavering multitude is divided into opposite factions.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Author	Date	Quotation
John Locke	1690	Thus conquerors swords often cut up governments by the roots, and mangle societies to pieces, separating the subdued or scattered multitude from the protection of, and dependence on, that society which ought to have preserved them from violence. (Second Treatise of Government)
US Declaration of Independence	1776	He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance. (reference)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Title	Author	Quote
Scarlet Letter	Hawthorne, Nathaniel	Thou mayest cover up thy secret from the prying multitude.
Les Miserables	Hugo, Victor	In an instant this multitude came up and surrounded me.
Grapes of Wrath	Steinbeck, John	A glow of light was on the camp, and the soft overtone of a multitude of speakers.
Walden	Thoreau, Henry David	This is a charity that hides a multitude of sins.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Subject	Topic	Quote
Health		Scientists are examining a multitude of issues related to vocal abuse and misuse. (references)
Business		Due to the multitude of travel options from Belgium, the airlines keep their prices low to encourage business. (references)
		Security experts in the information age have to battle a multitude of problems � ranging from credit-card fraud and hackers to industrial espionage and computer viruses. (references)
		Based on a multitude of factors, analysts predict a slowdown in investments for the year 2000. As a result, manufacturers are likely to face a decline in the market and may be forced to concentrate on the development of exports and niche markets. (references)
Economic History	Finland	Finland's proportional representation system encourages a multitude of political parties and has resulted in many coalition governments. (references)
	Sri Lanka	Economic growth has been uneven in the ensuing years as the economy faced a multitude of global and domestic economic and political challenges. (references)
	Indonesia	Perpetrators of Soeharto-era corruption and the Habibie-era Bank Bali campaign finance scandal have not yet made accountable, although a multitude of investigations into these and other (human rights, for example) cases have been launched. (references)
Political Economy	ITALY	Investment Barriers: While official Italian policy is to encourage foreign investment, industrial projects require a multitude of approvals and permits, and foreign investments often receive close scrutiny. (references)
Trade	Turkey	Project financing is available through a multitude of sources including Turkish and foreign commercial banks and investment banks. (references)
Travel	Lebanon	Internet service is available at an average monthly subscription fee of $13 for unlimited access and is accessible to visitors at many hotels and a multitude of Internet cafes. (references)
Worker Rights	Cote d'Ivoire	Only a small percentage of the workforce is organized, and most laborers work in the informal sector that includes small farms and a multitude of small roadside businesses and shops; however, large industrial farms and some trades are organized. (references)
Lexicography	Devil's Dictionary	TELESCOPE, n. A device having a relation to the eye similar to that of the telephone to the ear, enabling distant objects to plague us with a multitude of needless details. Luckily it is unprovided with a bell summoning us to the sacrifice.
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits.

Speaker	Term	Phrase(s)
Andrew Jackson	1829-1837	The spirit of expansion and speculation was not confined to the deposit banks, but pervaded the whole multitude of banks throughout the Union and was giving rise to new institutions to aggravate the evil.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

"Multitude" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 100.00% of the time. "Multitude" is used about 488 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted)

Parts of Speech	Percent	Usage per 100 Million Words	Rank in English
Noun (singular)	100%	488	12,253

The following table summarizes names derived from the word "multitude".
Name	Gender	Language	Meaning
Zarita	N/A	Spanish	Princess of the multitude
Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Expressions using "multitude": a vast multitude ♦ come in multitude ♦ mixed multitude ♦ multitude of birds ♦ multitude of people ♦ The multitude. Additional references.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com.

Language		Translations for "multitude"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses.
Afrikaans		stapel (accumulation, crowd, heap, mass, pile, stack), skare (accumulation, are, band, bevy, cluster, collection, crowd, gang, group, heap, herd, mass, pack, pile, set), menigte (accumulation, crowd, heap, mass, pile), massa (accumulation, crowd, heap, lump, mass, pile). (various references)

Albanian		mori (army, host, immenseness, immensity, multiplicity, muster, myriad, oodles, pile, plurality, profusion, regiment, scad, scads, variety), mizëri (legion, swarm, throng), turma (mob, rabble), grumbull njerëzish (crowd, drove, gaggle). (various references)

Arabic		‏كثرة (abundance, great number, host, large quantity, multiplicity, plenty), ‏حشد (assemblage, assemble, boodle, cloud, college, concentrate, concourse, confluence, crew, crowd, gather, gathering, horde, host, huddle, legion, loads of, lots of, mob, mobilize, oodles, pack, pile up, press, rabble, recall, regiment, throng), ‏تعدد (pluralism, plurality), ‏سرب من الطيور (flight), ‏عددوفير, ‏جماهير (masses, mob, populace), ‏الوفرة, ‏العامة (commonalty, populace). (various references)

Bulgarian		тълпа (cloud, concourse, cram, crowd, crush, drove, herd, host, huddle, mob, press, rabble, resort, rout, ruck, shoal, squash, throng, train, troop), многобройност, множество (host, legion, loads of, many, mass, multiplicity, plurality, regiment, scores, set, swarm, throng, troop, variety, wilderness). (various references)

Chinese		许多 (many), � (skin of bamboo), 眾 (sly), �"� (crowd). (various references)

Czech		množství (amount, bulk, lot, many, measure, number, plurality, quantity, quantum, shoal, volume), zástup (crowd, file, mob, throng). (various references)

Danish		mængd (accumulation, crowd, heap, mass, pile). (various references)

Dutch		menigte (accumulation, crowd, heap, mass, pile), massa (accumulation, crowd, heap, lump, mass, pile), hoop (accumulation, are, bevy, cluster, collection, crowd, good great group, group, heap, herd, hope, mass, pack, pile, set, stack), drom (accumulation, crowd, heap, mass, pile), boel (accumulation, crowd, heap, mass, pile, quantity). (various references)

Esperanto		homamaso (crowd, mass), amaso (crowd, heap, mass, pile). (various references)

Faeroese		mongd (accumulation, crowd, heap, lump, mass, pile, quantity), hópur (accumulation, are, bevy, cluster, collection, crowd, group, heap, herd, lump, mass, pack, pile, set, swarm). (various references)

Farsi		گروه بسیار (Regiment), جمعیت کثیر, بسیاری (Many, Plenty). (various references)

Finnish		kasa (accumulation, crowd, heap, lot, mass, pile, stack). (various references)

French		multitude, foule, amas. (various references)

Frisian		mannichte (crowd, mass). (various references)

German		Menge (accumulation, amount, assemblage, bulk, bundle, crowd, deal, forest, heap, host, load, lot, mass, measure, mob, pile, plenty, portion, quantity, quantum, quiverful, set, squash), vielzahl (multiplicity, plurality). (various references)

Greek		πλήθοσ (a lot of, army, battalion, bevy, crowd, heaps, host, huddle, large number of, lots, plenty of, ruck, shoal, swarm, throng, troop). (various references)

Hebrew		שפע�" (plenitude), �"מון (a great deal, a great many, a world of, crowd, herd, hoi polloi, legion, loads of, many, mass, mob, oodle, plenty, swarm, throng), רוב (abundance, majority, most, plenty, plethora). (various references)

Hungarian		tömeg (accumulation, body, bulk, cloud, clump, concourse, concrete, confluence, conglomerate, crowd, crush, drove, gross, heap, hoi polloi, host, mass, mob, multiplicity, pack, pile, quantity, quantum, regiment, shoal, swarm, throng), sokaság (abundance, crowd, host, legion, multiplicity, numbers, plurality, sea, swarm, throng). (various references)

Indonesian		banyak (excessively, have a lot of, in great quantities, many, much, numerous, plenty). (various references)

Italian		folla (accumulation, crowd, crush, drove, heap, host, huddle, mass, mob, pile, rabble, throng), affluenza (abundance, affluence, afflux, concourse, crowd, flow, influx, mass, plenty, throng). (various references)

Japanese Kanji		複数個 , 衆多 (great numbers), 群集 (crowd, group, mob, throng), 群衆 (crowd, group, mob, throng), 数多 (a lot, many, much), 十重二十重 , 億兆 (masses, the people). (various references)

Japanese Katakana		すうた (a lot, many, much), おくちょう (masses, the people), しゅうた (great numbers), ぐ�"しゅう (crowd, group, mob, throng), ふくすう�", あまた (a lot, many, much), とえはたえ. (various references)

Korean		군중 (Crowd, mob). (various references)

Manx		ymmodee dy leih, mooarane (a lot, great deal, many, more numerous, much), chionnal (assembly, congregation, crowd, jam, mob, turn out, turn out of people). (various references)

Papiamen		multitut (crowd, mass), monton (accumulation, crowd, heap, mass, pile). (various references)

Pig Latin		ultitudemay

Polish		masa (accumulation, crowd, heap, mass, pile), tłum. (various references)

Portuguese		multidão (accumulation, cloud, cluster, concourse, confluence, coven, crew, crowd, flock, heap, legion, many, mass, parade, people, pile, populace, rabble, ruck, shoal, swarm, throng). (various references)

Romanian		mulţime (accumulation, army, array, body, boodle, cloud, cluster, concourse, crowd, dozen, drove, fifty, flock, forest, generality, heap, herd, hive, host, huddle, lashing, manifold, mass, mob, muster, number, Peck, pile, plenty, populace, press, quantity, rabble, ream, shoal, sight, squash, stack, swarm, throng). (various references)

Russian		множество (a great deal, a great many, a lot of, a world of, abundance, array, bags of, cloud, crowd, dozens, ensemble, great number, heap, legion, manifold, mass, mountain, multiples, multiplicity, ocean, oodles, orgy, pack, pile, plurality, set, stacks of, the many, the million, thousand, throng). (various references)

Scottish		sgann (a membrane, a multitude, drove, herd, membrane). (various references)

Serbo-Croatian		mnoštvo (array, crop, grist, heap, lashings, legion, lot, lot: the lot, lots of, mass, million: the million, multiplicity, myriad, oodles, pack, plenty, raft, scads, shoal, slew), bezbroj (innumerable, myriad, umpteen). (various references)

Spanish		multitud (army, crowd, drove, herd, horde, host, mob, shoal, swarm, throng), la multitud. (various references)

Swedish		mängd (accumulation, amount, capacity, crowd, extent, heap, incidence, lot, mass, no end of, pack, pile, quantity, quantum, set, shoal, throng, variety), myckenhet. (various references)

Turkish		kalabalık (army, assemblage, cohort, concourse, congested, congestion, cram, crop, crowd, crowded, crush, drove, flock, gaggle, gathering, hive, horde, host, huddle, legion, mob, multitudinous, populous, press, regiment, rush hour, shoal, spate, squash, throng, thronged, wilderness), izdiham (concourse, confluence, conflux, congestion, cram, crowd, jam, mob, press, squeeze, stampede, throng), çokluk (affluence, ampleness, amplitude, commonness, considerable, crowd, fullness, fulness, heaviness, host, lashings, muchness, multeity, multiplicity, plenitude, plentifulness, plenty, plethora, plurality, superfluity, throng, vastness). (various references)

Ukrainian		натовп (bike, confluence, conflux, crowd, drove, flock, huddle, mob, press, rabble, throng), безліч (a lot of, abundance, army, array, bag, bagful, barrel, bushel, cumulus, dozens, host, infinite, lashings, legion, lots of, number, numbers, ocean, oodles, orb, orgy, pack, plenty, reams, rout, ruck, scores, shoal, shower, ton, variety, vast, wealth, wilderness, world). (various references)

Vietnamese		dân chúng (commonage, community, demos, people, populace). (various references)

Welsh		tyrfa (crowd, host), torf (brigade, crowd), lliaws (host), crug (abscess, barrow, blister, heap, hillock, tumulus), bagad (bunch, cluster, flock, host). (various references)
Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references.

Language	Period	Translations
Latin	500 BCE-Modern	turba. (various references)
Avestan	200-600	vãthwa. (various references)
Old English	450-1100	dryht, menigu. (various references)
Irish	1000-Modern	sluagh. (various references)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Language	Date	Source	Matthew Chapter 15, Verse 35
Greek (transliterated)	250 BC	Septuagint	Kai ekeleusen toiV ocloiV anapesein epi thn ghn
Latin	405	Vulgate	Et praecepit turbae ut discumberet super terram
Old English	990	West Saxon	Ænd he be-bead þa. þæt syo manigeosæte ofer þare eorðan.
Middle English	1395	Wyclif	And he comaundide to the puple, to sitte to mete on the erthe.
Renaissance English	1526	Tyndale	And he comaunded ye people to syt doune on ye grounde:
Jacobean English	1611	King James	And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground.
Victorian English	1833	Webster	And he commanded the multitude to sit on the ground.
Basic English	1964	Ogden	Then he gave an order to the people to be seated on the earth,
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Language	Matthew Chapter 15, Verse 35
Cebuano	Ug iyang gisugo ang panon sa katawhan sa pagpanglingkod sa yuta.
Chinese	他就吩 �'� 眾人坐在地上。
Croatian	Nato zapovjedi mnoštvu da posjeda po zemlji,
Danish	Og han bød Skaren at sætte sig ned på Jorden
Dutch	En Hij gebood den scharen neder te zitten op de aarde.
Finnish	Niin hän käski kansan asettua maahan.
French	Alors il fit asseoir la foule par terre,
German	Und er hieß das Volk sich lagern auf die Erde
Haitian Creole	Lè sa a, Jezi fè foul moun yo chita atè.
Hungarian	És parancsolá a sokaságnak, hogy telepedjenek le a földön.
Indonesian-Bahasa Sehari-hari	Maka Yesus menyuruh orang banyak itu duduk di atas tanah.
Indonesian-Terjemahan Lama	Maka disuruh-Nya orang banyak itu duduk di tanah;
Italian	Dopo aver ordinato alla folla di sedersi per terra,
Manx Gaelic	As doardee eh da'n pobble dy hoie er y thalloo.
Maori	Na ka mea ia ki te mano kia noho ki te whenua;
Norwegian	Da bød han folket sette sig ned på jorden,
Portuguese	E tendo ele ordenado ao povo que se sentasse no chão,
Rumanian	Atunci Isus a poruncit norodului sq wadq pe pqmknt.
Russian	фПЗ�"Б ЧЕМЕМ ОБТП�"Х ЧПЪМЕЮШ ОБ ЪЕНМА.
Shuar	Nuyá aents Nunká pujusarti tusa akupkamiayi.
Swahili	Basi, Yesu akawaamuru watu wakae chini.
Swedish	Då tillsade han folket att lägra sig på marken.
Uma	Ngkai ree nahubui-ramo tauna to wori' mohura hi tana'.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Derivations
	Words beginning with "multitude": multitudes. (additional references)
Misspellings
	"Multitude" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Bultitude, maltitude, mulitude, Multifuel, multitudi, multitudo. (additional references)
Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references).

# of Phoneme Matches	Pronunciation	Word(s) rhyming with "multitude" (pronounced mu"ltutuw'd or mu"ltutyuw'd)
6	-l t u t uw' d	altitude.
5	-t u t uw' d	aptitude, attitude, certitude, exactitude, fortitude, gratitude, ineptitude, latitude, platitude, rectitude.
4	-u t uw' d	amplitude, longitude, magnitude, servitude, solicitude, solitude, turpitude, verisimilitude.
3	-y uw' d	barbecued, barbequed, devalued, interviewed, previewed.
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits.

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams
	Words within the letters "d-e-i-l-m-t-t-u-u"
	-1 letter: lutetium.
	-3 letters: dilute, luteum, milted, mutuel, mutule, tedium, telium, tilted, titled, tumuli, tumult.
	-4 letters: demit, ileum, limed, luted, muled, muted, tilde, tiled, timed, title, tumid, utile.
	-5 letters: deil, deli, delt, diel, diet, dime, dite, duel, duet, duit, edit, emit, etui, idem, idle, item, leud, lied, lieu, lime, lite, litu, lude, lute, meld, melt, mild.
	Words containing the letters "d-e-i-l-m-t-t-u-u"
	+1 letter: multitudes.
	+5 letters: multinucleated, outmanipulated.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro.