multiply

/ˈmʌltəpˌlaɪ/MUHL-tuh-pligh

/ˈmʌltəpˌlaɪ/MUHL-tuh-pligh

Meaningto make many-fold

Common meaning: to increase by a number

multmuch, manyLewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), p. 1171 · scan
plyto foldLewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), p. 1387 · scan

‘much, many’ + ‘to fold’ → multiply

Journey through time

mult — Latin multus “much, many” (path traced)
ply — Latin plicō, plicāvī “to fold” (path traced)

Parts join in French as multiplier.

Latinmultus + plicō, plicāvī‘much, many + to fold’
Frenchmultiplier
Middle Englishmultipliensource
Englishmultiply‘to increase by a number’ · today

mult also in: multiple multitude

ply also in: apply reply employ complex explicit

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Built on Latin multus ‘much, many’ + Latin plicō ‘to fold’.

Did you know (Latin plicare, "to…): our wording, based on Lewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), entry plicō, p. 1387 · dictionary scan

Did you know (Latin multus, many,…): our wording, based on Lewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), entry multus, p. 1171 · dictionary scan

Roots

multus Latin “much, many”
plicō, plicāvī Latin “to fold”

Related words

multiple multitude apply complex deploy duplicate employ explicit quadruple reply

Building blocks are an automatic split · open in app