Adjacent Words

Multitude definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

MUL'TITUDE, n. [L. multitudo, form multus, many.]
1. The state of being many; a great number.
2. A number collectively; the sum of many.
3. A great number, indefinitely.
It is a fault in a multitude of preachers, that they utterly neglect method in their harangues.
4. A crowd or throng; the populace; applied to the populace when assembled in great numbers, and to the mass of men without reference to an assemblage.
He the vast hissing multitude admires.
The multitude have always been credulous, and the few artful.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a large indefinite number; "a battalion of ants"; "a multitude of TV antennas"; "a plurality of religions" [syn: battalion, large number, multitude, plurality, pack]
2: a large gathering of people [syn: multitude, throng, concourse]
3: the common people generally; "separate the warriors from the mass"; "power to the people" [syn: multitude, masses, mass, hoi polloi, people, the great unwashed]

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French or Latin; Anglo-French, from Latin multitudin-, multitudo, from multus much — more at meliorate Date: 14th century 1. the state of being many 2. a great number ; host 3. a great number of people 4. populace, public

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 (often foll. by of) a great number. 2 a large gathering of people; a crowd. 3 (the multitude) the common people. 4 the state of being numerous. Etymology: ME f. OF f. L multitudo -dinis f. multus many

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Multitude Mul"ti*tude, n. [F. multitude, L. multitudo, multitudinis, fr. multus much, many; of unknown origin.] 1. A great number of persons collected together; a numerous collection of persons; a crowd; an assembly. But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them. --Matt. ix. 36. 2. A great number of persons or things, regarded collectively; as, the book will be read by a multitude of people; the multitude of stars; a multitude of cares. It is a fault in a multitude of preachers, that they uttery neglect method in their harangues. --I. Watts. A multitude of flowers As countless as the stars on high. --Longfellow. 3. The state of being many; numerousness. They came as grasshoppers for multitude. --Judg. vi. 5. The multitude, the populace; the mass of men. Syn: Throng; crowd; assembly; assemblage; commonalty; swarm; populace; vulgar. See Throng.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(multitudes) 1. A multitude of things or people is a very large number of them. There are a multitude of small quiet roads to cycle along... Addiction to drugs can bring a multitude of other problems. QUANT: QUANT of pl-n • If you say that something covers or hides a multitude of sins, you mean that it hides something unattractive or does not reveal the true nature of something. 'Strong, centralized government' is a term that can cover a multitude of sins. PHRASE: PHR after v 2. You can refer to a very large number of people as a multitude. (WRITTEN) ...surrounded by a noisy multitude. = crowd N-COUNT 3. You can refer to the great majority of people in a particular country or situation as the multitude or the multitudes. The hideous truth was hidden from the multitude... N-COUNT-COLL: the N

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. Great number, numerousness. 2. Host, legion, a great many. 3. Throng, concourse, army, swarm, a great number, a great many, assembly, assemblage, collection, crowd. 4. The multitude, rabble, the populace, the vulgar, mass, commonalty.

Moby Thesaurus

a mass of, a world of, abundance, acres, army, bags, barrels, bevy, bunch, bushel, cloud, cluster, clutter, cohue, copiousness, countlessness, covey, crowd, crush, deluge, flight, flock, flocks, flood, galaxy, hail, heap, hive, horde, host, ignobile vulgus, jam, large amount, legion, load, lots, many, many-headed multitude, mass, masses of, mob, mobile vulgus, mountain, much, muchness, nest, numbers, numerousness, ocean, oceans, pack, panoply, peck, plenitude, plenty, plurality, press, profusion, quantities, quantity, quite a few, rabble, rout, ruck, scores, sea, shoal, spate, superabundance, superfluity, swarm, the common herd, the crowd, the great unnumbered, the great unwashed, the herd, the hoi polloi, the horde, the majority, the many, the masses, the mob, the multitude, throng, tidy sum, tons, volume, world, worlds, worlds of