multiplicationn.
/ˌmʌltᵻplᵻˈkeɪʃn/, U.S. /ˌməltəpləˈkeɪʃən/ 1.
a. Increase in number of people, animals, or plants, esp. by reproduction.
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the world > life > biology > biological processes > procreation or reproduction > [noun]
i-streonc893
strainc950
akennessOE
spreadingOE
upspringc1000
akenningOE
akennednessOE
strainc1175
streningc1230
begetc1330
begettingc1330
engendrurec1350
generationa1382
gettinga1382
genderingc1384
multiplicationa1387
increase1390
prolificationa1393
procreationc1395
engenderinga1400
gendrure?a1400
engendure?a1425
progeniturec1429
propagation?1440
teemingc1450
breeda1500
geniturea1500
engenderment1507
progeneration1548
fathering1549
engender1556
race1561
multiplying1599
pullulation1641
progermination1648
reproduction1713
face-making1785
baby-making1827
begettal1864
fertility1866
the world > relative properties > quantity > increase in quantity, amount, or degree > [noun] > increase in quantity, number, or frequency
multiplicationa1387
increase1390
multiplyingc1390
manifolding1892
proliferation1904
the world > food and drink > farming > gardening > management of plants > propagation of plants > [noun]
multiplicationa1387
multiplying1707
plant breeding1896
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1865) I. 255 (MED) Þere is more multiplicacioun and encrese of men and children in þe norþ contray þan in þe south.
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 209v Some [trees] haueþ multiplicacioun by graffynge on stokkes.
?a1475 (?a1425) tr. R. Higden Polychron. (Harl. 2261) (1869) II. 185 (MED) The worlde hathe thryvede in yeres afore as in yowthe to the multiplicacion of peple [a1387 J. Trevisa tr. to brynge forþ children].
a1500 ( J. Lydgate Minor Poems (1934) ii. 622 (MED) He may se his generacioun Vnto the forteth multiplicacioun.
1582 S. Batman Vppon Bartholome, De Proprietatibus Rerum 413 Albana and Pharphar..be riuers of Syria,..and by the course and passing thereof, the gardens of Damaske be..made plenteous, with multiplication of diuers trees.
1646 Sir T. Browne Pseudodoxia Epidemica iii. xvii. 149 The multiplication of Hares, which is by superfetation..or an improvement of a second fruit before the first be excluded. View more context for this quotation
1662 E. Stillingfleet Origines Sacræ iii. iv. §9 Wee have yet cause to beleeve that there was a more than ordinary multiplication in the posterity of Noah after the flood.
1707 tr. P. Le Lorrain de Vallemont Curiosities in Husbandry & Gardening 140 The whole Secret of the Multiplication of Corn rouls on Nitre, which has the greatest Effect on all Corn-Lands.
1772 Ann. Reg. 1771 Misc. Ess. 172/2 Reaumur has proved that vine fretters do not want an union of sexes for the multiplication of their kind.
1838 Penny Cycl. XI. 18/2 The artificial multiplication of that species in gardens.
1882 Jrnl. Linn. Soc. 16 187 All epizootics of this character are immediately due to excessive multiplication of worms.
1946 Nature 21 Sept. 423/1 The most important biological attribute of an outbreak centre is to provide conditions for survival and multiplication of locusts at those times when their range of dispersal is at a minimum.
1991 R. S. K. Barnes & K. H. Mann Fund. Aquatic Ecol. (ed. 2) viii. 148/2 Some of them, being denied fission when adult because of sequestration of the germ line, have evolved various new, secondary forms of asexual multiplication based on the production of normal or aberrant gametes.
b. Biology. A process by which one cell or individual gives rise to two or more asexually by fission, budding, etc. (in contrast to conjugation or sexual reproduction); an instance of this.
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1864 Athenæum No. 1920. 215/2 Subdivisional multiplications and production by budding.
1875 T. H. Huxley & H. N. Martin Course Elem. Biol. v. 29 The whole plant is built up by the fissive multiplication of the simple cell in which it takes its origin.
1910 Encycl. Brit. I. 591/1 Multiplication takes place [in algae] in some cases by the endogenous formation of zoospores.
a1933 J. A. Thomson Biol. for Everyman (1934) I. iii. 56 Conjugation..is a kind of reproduction, not a mode of multiplication; and it promotes vigour and variability in the stock.
1958 Nature 13 Dec. 1678/2 The multiplication of extraneous viruses in tumours grown in homologous and heterologous hosts depends on the host animal.
1991 Atom Jan. 6/1 Leukaemia..manifests by the rapid multiplication of abnormal white blood cells.
2.
a. The action or process of increasing the quantity or amount of something; great increase in numbers, proliferation.In modern use, often coloured by sense 3.
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the world > relative properties > quantity > increase in quantity, amount, or degree > [noun] > making increased
multiplicationc1390
additionc1400
augmentationa1422
aggrandizing1635
the world > relative properties > quantity > increase in quantity, amount, or degree > [noun] > becoming increased
augmentationa1398
multiplication1593
c1390 in C. Horstmann Minor Poems Vernon MS (1892) i. 232 Alle þeose þinges he multiplyed... His godnesse may we seo..Bi heore Multiplicaciun and vertuwe.
a1450 (c1410) H. Lovelich Hist. Holy Grail xlviii. 364 Thus there As Alle these good men sete, Fulfylled they were with Alle Manere of Mete; but in place as the Synneris were, Non Multiplicacion was not there.
c1450 (c1380) G. Chaucer House of Fame 784 Every speche, or noyse, or soun, Thurgh hys multiplicacioun, Thogh hyt were piped of a mous, Mot nede come to Fames Hous.
a1513 J. Irland Meroure of Wyssdome f. 230v, in Dict. Older Sc. Tongue at Multiplicatioun And the last twa for the multiplicacioune of cristin pepil.
1593 R. Harvey Philadelphus 104 The ouerthrow of contraries is the generation of concord, and multiplication of consent.
1626 F. Bacon New Atlantis 39 in Sylua Syluarum Wee represent also all Multiplications of Light, which wee carry to great Distance.
c1660 J. Evelyn Diary anno 1644 (1955) II. 254 The position of looking-glasses, which renders a strange multiplication of things, resembling divers most richly furnish'd-roomes.
1695 W. J. tr. R. Le Bossu Treat. Epick Poem (1719) I. xvi. 92 You see then the ill Effects of Polymythia, or a Viscious Multiplication of Fables.
1759 S. Johnson Idler 1 Dec. 377 One of the Peculiarities which distinguish the present Age is the Multiplication of Books.
1830 Lady Morgan France 1829–30 II. 297 Mechanics' institutions, the London University, the multiplication of cheap literature, are splendid exceptions.
1863 E. V. Neale Analogy Thought & Nature 37 The cottage becomes a mansion, the mansion a palace, the palace a town, simply by the multiplication of its parts.
1881 B. F. Westcott & F. J. A. Hort New Test. in Orig. Greek II. Introd. i. 5 Repeated transcription involves multiplication of error.
1910 Encycl. Brit. I. 762/1 It is in the 6th century that we begin to find traces of the multiplication of altars.
1960 R. G. Haggar Conc. Encycl. Continental Pottery & Porcelain 302/2 The subsequent history of Marseilles faience is one of great trade expansion and the multiplication of factories... The death blow was given to the industry by the increased demand for earthenware of English type, and the French Revolution.
1993 A. Lightman Einstein's Dreams (1994) xx. 120 In such a world, the multiplication of achievements is partly divided by the diminishment of ambition.
b. The use of an excessive number of words. Cf. multiply v. 2a. Now rare.
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society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > copiousness > [noun] > verbosity
multiplicationa1500
surplusage1534
verbosity1541
wordishness1657
wordiness1680
verboseness1695
verbiagea1721
verbage1742
palaverment1816
tootling1821
tootle1883
a1500 Wisdom of Solomon (Cambr. Kk.1.5) in R. Girvan Ratis Raving & Other Early Scots Poems (1939) 190 He sais that mekil multiplicacione of wordis may nocht be but syne.
1612 T. Taylor Αρχὴν Ἁπάντων: Comm. Epist. Paul to Titus To Rdr. With multiplication of matterless words.
1651 T. Hobbes Leviathan ii. xxx. 182 Multiplication of words in the body of the Law, is multiplication of ambiguity.
1709 G. Berkeley Ess. New Theory of Vision §134. 157 No Multiplication of Words will ever suffice to make them understand the Truth.
1709 J. Strype Ann. Reformation xxxviii. 396 After a multiplication of language on both sides, Malvisier departed.
1935 E. R. Eddison Mistress xv. 306 Zenianthe..slowly shook her head. ‘Multiplication of matterless words,’ said she.
3. Mathematics.† b. The result of a multiplication, a product. Obsolete. rare.† d. figurative. Duplication, replication. Obsolete.
a. The action, process, or an act of multiplying quantities; the process of finding the quantity produced by repeatedly adding one quantity (the multiplicand) as many times as there are units in a second quantity (the multiplier), or, in the case of a fractional multiplier, of finding the same fraction of the multiplicand as the multiplier is of unity. Also (generalized): an algebraic binary operation which is associative but not necessarily commutative.compound, logical, outer, scalar multiplication: see the first element.The sign for arithmetical multiplication is × (in early use described by some as a St Andrew's cross, but in handwriting often indistinguishable from the letter x). Its history is not entirely clear, but it appears to have been first used as a general symbol for multiplication in an appendix to the 1618 edition of J. Napier's Descriptio (anonymous, but believed to have been written by W. Oughtred). It next occurs in Oughtred's Clavis Mathematicae (1631). Before Oughtred × had been used in medieval manuscripts and early printed books with a number of different arithmetical meanings.A dot was adopted by Leibniz (1698) on the grounds that × was easily confused with x, and continues in use in mathematics, both on the line and raised. ‘The general adoption of the dot for multiplication in Europe in the 18th cent. is due largely to Christian Wolf. It was thus used by L. Euler; it was used by James Stirling in Great Britain, where the Oughtredian × was very popular’ (F. Cajori Hist. Math. Notations (1928) I. iii. 268).An asterisk or six-pointed star was used by some writers in the 17th cent., e.g. J. H. Rahn Teutsche Algebra (1659, p. 7; English transl. 1668, p. 6); Philos. Trans. Royal Soc. (1692–4) 17 680. In the 20th cent. the asterisk was adopted in algebra as a symbol of generalized multiplication. Many computer programming languages use the asterisk; some also use the keyboard letter x in certain contexts, but this can be more difficult to disambiguate.Mere juxtaposition is also used to denote multiplication of algebraic (not numerical) quantities; thus ab means a × b (in that order).
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the world > relative properties > number > arithmetic or algebraic operations > [noun] > multiplication
multiplicationa1393
multiplying?a1400
ductionc1430
leadingc1430
composition1557
practice1562
postmultiplication1861
premultiplication1861
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) vii. 159 (MED) Multiplicacioun Is mad and diminucioun Of sommes be thexperience Of this Art [sc. algorism].
?c1425 Crafte Nombrynge in R. Steele Earliest Arithm. in Eng. (1922) 21 Multiplicacioun is a bryngynge to-geder of 2 thynges in on nombur, þe quych on nombur contynes so mony tymes on, howe mony tymes þere ben vnytees in þe nowmbre of þat 2, as twyes 4 is 8.
c1450 Art Nombryng in R. Steele Earliest Arithm. in Eng. (1922) 40 (MED) Multiplicacioun of nombre by hym-self other by a-nother..[is] the fyndyng of the thirde That so oft conteynethe that other as ther ben vnytes in the oþer.
1557 R. Record Whetstone of Witte sig. Giiiv Twoo multiplications doe make a Cubike nomber. Likewaies .3. multiplications doe giue a square of squares.
1614 W. Bedwell De Numeris Geometricis i. 1 A rationall figurate number is a number that is made by the multiplication of numbers betweene them-selues.
1618 R. Hartwell in Record's Ground of Arts (rev. ed.) App. 3 That number is called a Quadrat, which is made, by the multiplication of two equall numbers.
1690 W. Leybourn Cursus mathematicus 14 Multiplication may be fitly termed a Compendium of Addition.
1728 E. Chambers Cycl. at Plain Number 20 is a plain number, produced by Multiplication of 5 into 4.
1797 Trans. Royal Irish Acad. 6 Science 229 It is expedient to remove the surds out of the denominator by multiplication.
1843 W. R. Hamilton in Trans. Royal Irish Acad. (1846) 21 i. 257 We have now the system of the two equations, q″ = q′q; q″ = qq′; q″ and q″ being those two distinct quaternion products which arise from the multiplication of the same two quaternion factors, q and q′, with two different arrangements of those factors.
1854 Orr's Circle Sci.: Math. 162 The sign × placed between two quantities denotes the multiplication of those quantities together.
1886 W. S. Aldis Elem. Solid Geom. (ed. 4) xiv. 238 The operation of multiplication by a vector is distributive both as regards the operator and the operand.
1941 G. Birkhoff & S. MacLane Surv. Mod. Algebra i. 2 We say that zero is an ‘identity element’ for addition. By formal analogy, the ‘unity’ 1 is an identity for multiplication.
1946 H. H. Goldstine & J. Von Neumann in J. Von Neumann Coll. Wks. (1961) V. 26 In performing a multiplication one usually performs about 3 or 4 associated additions or subtractions or comparisons.
1963 G. F. Simmons Introd. Topol. & Mod. Anal. viii. 173 The abstract character of an abstract group is sometimes further emphasized by using a noncommittal symbol like x × y in place of xy and by speaking of the star operation, or the group operation, instead of multiplication.
1986 C. W. Norman Undergraduate Algebra ii. 32 Let α and μ be binary operations on the set R... We proceed to interpret α and μ as ‘addition’ and ‘multiplication’ on R.
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the world > relative properties > number > arithmetic or algebraic operations > [noun] > multiplication > result of, product
suma1425
pervenientc1450
productc1450
offcome1570
multiplication1586
ductate1610
factus1645
fact1664
factum1684
1586 T. Bowes tr. P. de la Primaudaye French Acad. I. 563 The number of 63. which is the multiplication of seuen by nine.
c. table of multiplication n. now rare = multiplication table n.
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the world > relative properties > number > mathematical instruments > [noun] > table
compute manual1483
tariff1591
sexagenary table1594
table of multiplication1594
long measure1623
scale of numbers1630
Rudolphine Tables1635
multiplication table1657
chiliad1675
sexagesimal table1685
nautical card1700
pence table1706
numeration tablea1743
tablebook1755
ready reckoner1757
calculator1784
tables1828
times table1902
log tablec1935
1594 T. Blundeville Exercises i. iv. f. 5 Before I teach you the true order of multiplying, I thinke it good to set you downe a table of Multiplycation.
1618 B. Holyday Technogamia i. iv (Stage direct.) Arithmetica, in a greene Gowne of Silke; on her head a Coronet, bearing in the front a Table of Multiplication.
1706 W. Jones Synopsis Palmariorum Matheseos 18 All the variety that can happen..is express'd in the following Table of Multiplication.
1869 E. A. Sheldon Man. Elem. Instr. (ed. 6) 190 One or two examples of this kind will probably establish the facts of division, in so far as they are related to the table of multiplication.
1910 N.E.D. at Tariff An arithmetical table or statement; a table of multiplication; a ready reckoner.
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the world > relative properties > relationship > imitation > [noun] > action of repeating in a copy or making a copy
replication1692
reproducing1705
multiplication1715
reproduction1793
re-creation1915
1715 R. South 12 Serm. IV. 514 Society and Converse..being a Kind of Multiplication of himself into every Person of the Company he converses with.
1834 C. Dickens Sketches by Boz (1836) 2nd Ser. 53 Two or three more turnkeys, who looked like multiplications of the first one.
4. Alchemy. The art of transmuting base metal into gold or silver. Now historical.
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the world > matter > alchemy > alchemical processes > [noun] > chemical digestion > chrysopoetics
multiplicationa1393
chrysopoetic1715
chrysopee1772
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) iv. 2573 (MED) This Ston..makth multiplicacioun Of gold.
a1500 (c1477) T. Norton Ordinal of Alchemy (BL Add.) (1975) 2640 (MED) Albertus magnus..Hadde not of oure red stone consideracione, Him to encrece in multiplicacione.
1543 tr. Act 5 Hen. IV c. 4 It is ordeyned..that none from hensforth shall vse to multiplie golde or syluer, nor vse the craft of multiplication.
1584 R. Scot Discouerie Witchcraft xiv. i. 353 The art or rather the craft of Alcumystrie, otherwise called Multiplication.
1617 J. Woodall Surgions Mate Termes 345 Multiplication by proiection, is of a body amalgamated from 7. to 10. from 10, to 50. from 50. to an 100. &c. according to the force and quantity of the tincture.
a1661 T. Fuller Worthies (1662) Yorks. 204 His [sc. G. Ripley's] Compound of Alchimy..presenteth the Reader with the twelve gates, leading to the making of the Philosophers Stone, which are thus reckoned up in order, 1. Calcination. 2. Solution... 11. Multiplication. 12. Projection.
1692 I. Newton Let. 2 Aug. in A. R. Hall I. Newton (1996) vii. 199 I have forborn to say any thing against multiplication in general because you seemed perswaded of it.
1908 N.E.D. at Multiplier One who performs the alchemical process of multiplication.
1994 W. R. Newman Gehennical Fire iv. 118 These are the twelve gates of Ripley's Compound of Alchemy..by which Ripley referred to twelve alchemical processes—calcination, dissolution,..multiplication, and projection.
5. Botany. Increase in the number of whorls or in the number of organs in a whorl. Cf. pleiotaxy n. at pleio- comb. form .
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the world > plants > by growth or development > [noun] > growth or vegetation
thriftc1230
upgrowing1430
thrivage1610
vegetity1628
vigidity1628
vegetating1641
vegetation1665
increase1794
multiplication1849
1849 J. H. Balfour Man. Bot. §653 Multiplication, or an increase of the number of parts, gives rise to changes in plants.
1857 A. Henfrey Elem. Course Bot. 89 Sometimes the multiplication is collateral, a pair of stamens, for example, standing in the place of one.
1880 A. Gray Bot. Text-bk. (ed. 6) vi. 200 Augmentation in the number of floral members is one of the commonest modifications of the type. It occurs in two ways: 1st, by an increased number of circles or turns of spirals in the flower, which is Regular Multiplication.
1997 Internat. Jrnl. Plant Sci. 158 57 The centrifugal initiation of outer stamens is believed to reflect a reversal in the direction of stamen initiation and is not linked with a secondary stamen multiplication.
6. Dice. A game in which each player rolls three dice in succession, and the combined highest scores of the first two throws is multiplied by the value of the third.
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1905 Hoyle's Games (rev. ed.) 196 Multiplication. Three dice are used, and there are three throws for each player.
1974 J. Scarne Scarne on Dice (rev. ed.) 374 Multiplication, this game is played in the same manner as Going to Boston, except that the last die thrown is the multiple of the sum of the two former ones.
Compounds
multiplication constant n. Nuclear Physics the multiplication factor of a fission process.
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the world > matter > physics > atomic nucleus > nuclear fission > [noun] > neutron ratio
reproduction factor1918
multiplication factor1941
multiplication constant1945
reproduction constant1950
1945 H. D. Smyth Gen. Acct. Devel. Atomic Energy Mil. Purposes viii. 80 Other fission products are..typically of unstable and relatively unfamiliar nuclei so that it was originally impossible to predict how great an undesirable effect they would have on the multiplication constant.
1962 Newnes Conc. Encycl. Nucl. Energy 111/1 The actual number of neutrons per fission varies considerably, but has an average value of 2·5. This is a high enough gain per cycle to suggest that a chain-reacting system of uranium could be made with a multiplication constant of at least unity.
1994 Trans. Amer. Nucl. Soc. 71 275/2 The racks were impregnated with Boraflex, a compound containing boron to absorb neutrons and reduce the effective multiplication constant.
multiplication factor n. (a) Nuclear Physics the ratio by which the number of neutrons increases during a period equal to the lifetime of a neutron; (b) gen. a factor by which something is (or is to be) multiplied.
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the world > matter > physics > atomic nucleus > nuclear fission > [noun] > neutron ratio
reproduction factor1918
multiplication factor1941
multiplication constant1945
reproduction constant1950
1941 E. Fermi Coll. Papers (1965) II. 89 The chain reaction may reach a steady state only when the multiplication factor of the neutrons (including neutron losses due to diffusion outside of the reacting mass) is equal to 1.
1974 Encycl. Brit. Macropædia XIII. 305/1 If a fission bomb is to be made, the multiplication factor must be as large as possible.
1986 Jrnl. Plant Physiol. 124 455 A spontaneous secondary cycle of direct somatic embryogenesis occurred, giving a final embryo multiplication factor of better than 150.
1996 Jrnl. Appl. Entomol. 120 147 For P. cupreus the multiplication factor to transform alcohol weight into fresh weight is 1.19.
multiplication sign n. the sign × placed between two quantities to denote their multiplication (see note at sense 3a); also figurative.
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the world > relative properties > number > mathematical notation or symbol > [noun] > arithmetic or algebraic symbols > multiplication
multiplication sign1880
1668 J. Wallis Let. 8 Sept. in S. P. Rigaud & S. J. Rigaud Corr. Sci. Men 17th Cent. (1841) (modernized text) II. 494 I do not understand why the sign of multiplication × should more trouble the convenient placing of the fractions than the other signs.]
1880 Princeton Rev. 2 254 See if there is an inverse operation to that class of restriction which we denote by the multiplication sign.
1907 W. D. Eggar Elem. Algebra i. 4 When a number is written in front of a bracket without a sign following it, thus 10(6 + 5), the multiplication sign is understood, just as when we write 10a.
1908 W. Owen Let. 20 July (1967) 46 Best love, and a ‘multiplication sign’ (×) from your ever loving W.
1973 P. M. Aitchison et al. Form Two Math. vi. 67 Remember that a multiplication sign connects factors.
1991 Science 20 Dec. 1783/3 In the duration column, we have indicated multiple mice by a multiplication sign.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2003; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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n.a1387