multitude
Etymology

From Middle English multitude, multitud, multytude, borrowed from Old French multitude, or directly from its etymon Latin multitūdō, from multus + -tūdō.

Pronunciation
  • (RP) IPA: /ˈmʌltɪtjuːd/, [-t͡ʃ-]
  • (America) IPA: /ˈmʌltəˌt(j)ud/
Noun

multitude (plural multitudes)

  1. A great amount or number, often of people; abundance, myriad, profusion.
    Synonyms: hantel, hantle
    • 1892, Walt Whitman, “Song of Myself”, in Leaves of Grass […], Philadelphia, Pa.: David McKay, publisher, […], →OCLC ↗, 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 ↗:
      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 ↗:
      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.
    Synonyms: crowd
    • 1790 November, Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France, and on the Proceedings in Certain Societies in London Relative to that Event. […], London: […] J[ames] Dodsley, […], →OCLC ↗, page 117 ↗:
      Along with its natural protectors and guardians, learning will be caſt into the mire and trodden down under the hoofs of a ſwiniſh multitude.
Translations Translations


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