I. ˈməltəpəl adjective
Etymology: French, from Latin multiplex, from multi- + -plex -fold — more at simple
1. : consisting of, including, or involving more than one
multiple birth
multiple burial of plague victims
multiple cable
multiple corolla
multiple drill
multiple rate
multiple skin eruption
2. : many , manifold , several
multiple achievements in politics and public life — B.H.Wall
multiple minds functioning together — American Scholar
plants were on a multiple -shift basis — Annual Report General Motors Corp.
multiple copies of a speech
multiple -restaurant chain
multiple -party system
3. : occurring more than once or in higher degree than the first : repeated
multiple roots
4. : belonging to or divided among several or many
multiple ownership
multiple responsibility
5. : having numerous aspects or functions : various , complex
life is very multiple ; full of movements, facts, and news — John Galsworthy
the multiple executive has been widely used in business and in government — Harold Koontz & Cyril O'Donnell
6.
a. : being a circuit with a number of conductors in parallel
b. : being a group of terminals which make a circuit available at a number of points
7. : developed by coalescence of the ripening ovaries of several distinct flowers (as in the mulberry and the pineapple) : collective — distinguished from aggregate ; see fruit illustration
8. : having a value equal to some multiple of a single unit
multiple dollars from 2- to 20-dollar pieces
multiple thaler
II. noun
( -s )
1.
a. : the product of a quantity by an integer
35 is a multiple of 7
gases … associated in multiples of the molecular weight — F.H.Getman
b. : an assemblage with respect to any of its divisions or parts
lay mines in multiple
four road switchers running in multiple — Trains
2. : parallel 4b
connected in multiple
3. : a multiple coin
III. noun
1. : something containing or consisting of more than one or two units of a kind
2. : a mass-produced work of art
3. : a number that expresses the price-earnings ratio of a stock : price-earnings multiple herein
4. chiefly Britain : multiple store herein