Multitude Meaning
/ˈmʌltɪtjuːd/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA great amount or number, often of people; abundance, myriad, profusion.
nounThe mass of ordinary people; the masses, the populace.
Sentence Examples
They are faced with a multitude of stresses.
Riches cover a multitude of woes.
CEFR Practice Quiz
A ____ of supporters gathered at the city square to hear the speech.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
A ____ of people gathered in the city's main square to hear the famous singer perform her most popular songs during the summer festival.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English multitude, multitud, multytude (“(great) amount or number of people or things; multitudinous”), borrowed from Old French multitude (“crowd of people; diversity, wide range”), or directly from its etymon Latin multitūdō (“great amount or number of people or things”), from multus (“many; much”) + -tūdō (suffix forming abstract nouns indicating a state or condition). The English word is analysable as multi- + -itude.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Do I contradict myself? / Very well then I contradict myself, / (I am large, I contain multitudes.)"
— 1892, Walt Whitman, “Song of Myself”, in Leaves of Grass […], Philadelphia, Pa.: David McKay, publisher, […], →OCLC, stanza 51, page 78:
"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."
— 1922 February, James Joyce, “[Episode 12: The Cyclops]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, […], →OCLC:
"On the other hand, to arrive after dusk, when the multitude of garish little public-houses are lit up, giving glimpses of crowded jostling bars and taprooms, is an introduction to a fine city well calculated to affect even the most nonchalant."
— 1951 October, R. S. McNaught, “Lines of Approach”, in Railway Magazine, page 703:
"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 […]"
— 1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter XIV, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, →OCLC:
"Ever since El Martinez started asking to be called by the gender-neutral pronouns “they/them” in the ninth grade, they have fielded skepticism in a variety of forms and from a multitude of sources about what it means to identify as nonbinary."
— 2019 May 29, Amy Harmon, “Which Box Do You Check? Some States Are Offering a Nonbinary Option”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 08 Jun 2019:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
A ____ of supporters gathered at the city square to hear the speech.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
A ____ of people gathered in the city's main square to hear the famous singer perform her most popular songs during the summer festival.