pluralityn.
/plʊəˈralᵻti/, /plɔːˈralᵻti/, /plᵿˈralᵻti/, U.S. /plʊˈrælədi/, /pləˈrælədi/ 1.
a. The state of being plural; the fact or condition of denoting, comprising, or consisting of more than one; (also) an instance of this. Also: the fact of there being many or much; numerousness, plentifulness.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > plurality > [noun]
pluralitya1398
multiplicityc1454
moreness1611
manya1620
plural1655
multeity1814
several-fold1892
the world > relative properties > number > plurality > great number, numerousness > [noun]
multitudec1350
numberc1390
pluralitya1398
manynessc1500
multitudine1547
umberment1550
infiniteness1579
numbers1591
populacy1597
plurity1600
numerosity1611
populosity1614
numerousness1631
populousness1651
multitudinousness1653
multitudinosity1840
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 118v Plyades ben seuene sterris, and hauen þat name of..pluralite, for þey beoþ many.
?a1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac Grande Chirurgie (N.Y. Acad. Med.) f. 151 Þe byrþ is made hard for pluralite of birþez [?c1425 Paris for many children].
?a1475 (?a1425) tr. R. Higden Polychron. (Harl. 2261) (1865) I. 27 (MED) I haue studiede that hit schal be called Policronicon of the pluralite of tymes whom it dothe conteyne.
a1500 ( Pilgrimage of Soul (Egerton) (1953) v. ii. f. 90v (MED) So wold he than, be distribucion of many hundred yeres suyng be succession..schewe the pluralite of worldes.
1533 J. Bellenden tr. Livy Hist. Rome (1901) I. i. Prol. 7 In sic pluralite of writaris my fame is obscure and of litill estimatioun.
1563 2nd Tome Homelyes Cert. Places Holy Script. i, in J. Griffiths Two Bks. Homilies (1859) ii. 374 The plurality of wives was by a special prerogative suffered to the fathers of the Old Testament.
1616 B. Jonson Epicœne iv. iii, in Wks. I. 571 Doe you count it lawfull to haue such pluralitie of seruants? View more context for this quotation
1624 T. Gataker Discuss. Transubstant. 183 To shew how in one nature there may be a plurality of persons.
1659 J. Pearson Expos. Apostles Creed ii. 271 The plurality of the verb, and the neutrality of the noun,..speak a perfect identity of their essence.
1728 E. Chambers Cycl. (at cited word) A Plurality of Worlds is a thing which Mr. Huygens has endeavoured to prove in his Cosmotheoros.
1781 E. Gibbon Decline & Fall II. xviii. 103 Many of the Armenian nobles still refused to abandon the plurality of their gods and of their wives.
a1834 S. T. Coleridge Specimens of Table Talk (1835) II. 61 It is very natural to have a dual, duality being a conception quite distinct from plurality.
1898 J. R. Illingworth Divine Immanence (1904) vii. 86/2 The fact that there is plurality, triune plurality in God.
1932 Mod. Lang. Notes 47 320 The first important association of the heliocentric hypothesis with the theory of a plurality of inhabited worlds seems to have been made by Giordano Bruno.
1991 S. Woolf Napoleon's Integration of Europe ii. 48 The very plurality of sources of power under the Directory..sometimes offered the possibility to local patriots to transform provisional administrations into new republics.
b. A large number or quantity of; a multitude, a profusion.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > plurality > great number, numerousness > [noun] > a large number or multitude
sandc825
thousandc1000
un-i-rimeOE
legiona1325
fernc1325
multitudec1350
hundred1362
abundancec1384
quantityc1390
sight1390
felec1394
manyheada1400
lastc1405
sortc1475
infinityc1480
multiplie1488
numbers1488
power1489
many1525
flock1535
heapa1547
multitudine1547
sort1548
myriads1555
myriads1559
infinite1563
tot-quot1565
dickera1586
multiplea1595
troop1596
multitudes1598
myriad1611
sea-sands1656
plurality1657
a vast many1695
dozen1734
a good few1756
nation1762
vast1793
a wheen (of)1814
swad1828
lot1833
tribe1833
slew1839
such a many1841
right smart1842
a million and one1856
horde1860
a good several1865
sheaf1865
a (bad, good, etc.) sortc1869
immense1872
dunnamuch1875
telephone number1880
umpty1905
dunnamany1906
skit1913
umpteen1919
zillion1922
gang1928
scrillion1935
jillion1942
900 number1977
gazillion1978
fuckload1984
1657 E. Calamy Evid. for Heaven 160 The Position of the Apostle, is confirmed by a plurality of witnesses.
1701 T. D'Urfey Bath v. i. 46 It may be so where she is singly imploy'd, and where there are a plurality of Lovers.
1784 E. Allen Reason viii. §1. 286 There will be an uncertain plurality ‘of last days’, which must be understood to be short of a month, or a year.
1839 C. Dickens Nicholas Nickleby ix. 75 Mrs Squeers, when excited, was accustomed..to make use of a plurality of epithets.
1866 J. E. T. Rogers Hist. Agric. & Prices I. xx. 512 The money-chest was also secured by a plurality of locks.
1931 Official Gaz. (U.S. Patent Office) 1 Dec. 270/2 Covering a plurality of laminations of the impregnated wood with a surface coating of powdered phenolic resin.
1994 Lay Witness Nov.–Dec. 3/2 Setting a table with a plurality of china, crystal, cutlery, and napery cannot be accomplished unless there is a table in the first place.
2.
a. The holding of two or more benefices or livings concurrently by one member of the clergy. Also: an instance of this practice; a benefice or living held concurrently with another or others (chiefly in plural).
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > worship > benefice > kinds of benefice > [noun] > two or more held together
pluralityc1400
society > faith > worship > benefice > [noun] > one who possesses > who has two or more > holding of two or more together
pluralityc1400
polygamy1538
pluracy1581
pluralism1772
society > faith > worship > benefice > kinds of benefice > [noun] > two or more held together > one of
pluralityc1400
combination1618
society > faith > worship > benefice > kinds of benefice > [noun] > two or more held together > holding of
pluralityc1400
polygamy1538
pluracy1581
pluralism1772
c1400 (a1376) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Trin. Cambr. R.3.14) (1960) A. xi. 200 Dewid he is also, And haþ possessions & pluralites [v.r. pluraltes] for pore menis sake.
c1450 Jacob's Well (1900) 18 Alle þey bene acursed þat receyvin & holdyn pluralyte of cherchys.
1551 R. Crowley Pleasure & Payne sig. Dii Geue ouer your pluralities..Betake you to one benifice.
1574 J. Studley tr. J. Bale Pageant of Popes f. 79v He..concluded many thinges against dualities, pluralityes, and totquots.
1642 J. Milton Apol. Smectymnuus 57 Who ingrosse many pluralities under a non-resident and slubbring dispatch of soules.
1680 R. Baxter Church-hist. Govt. Bishops xii. 400 The Legate was in danger for opposing Pluralities.
a1715 Bp. G. Burnet Concl. Hist. Own Time (1741) 24 I do not reckon the holding poor Livings that lie contiguous, a Plurality, where both are looked after, and both afford only a competent Maintenance.
1750 J. Mayhew Disc. Submission 25 A number of Reverend and Right Reverend Drones..who preached..not the gospel of Jesus Christ; but the divine right of tythes;—the dignity of their office as ambassadors of Christ,..a plurality of benefices, [etc.].
a1817 T. Dwight Trav. New-Eng. & N.-Y. (1821) II. 50 There are two congregations in North-Haven: a Presbyterian, and an Episcopal. The latter is a small plurality, under the care of a neighbouring minister.
1868 E. A. Freeman Hist. Norman Conquest II. vii. 82 With that double see he had held..the Bishoprick of Worcester in plurality.
1906 Times 12 Oct. 9/1 Plurality of livings, once the rule, has now become the exception.
1996 Church Times 19 July 4/1 They..decided to permit one person to hold two churchwardenships, only if they were in parishes already linked through plurality or having the same minister.
b. gen. The holding of two or more offices or positions concurrently; an instance of this.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > working > [noun] > holding more than one job at a time
plurality1647
pluralism1772
double-dipping1940
moonlighting1954
double dip1963
1647 W. Prynne Hypocrites Vnmasking 7 He hath a plurallity of Offices of very great trust and profit.
1678 Lady Chaworth in 12th Rep. Royal Comm. Hist. MSS (1890) App. v. 47 Some mention the laying sums upon all pluralities of qualities, dignities, and offices.
1757 W. Smith Hist. Province N.-Y. v. 152 The Secretary enjoys a Plurality of Offices, conversant with the first Springs of our provincial Oeconomy.
1850 C. Lyell 2nd Visit U.S. (ed. 2) II. 82 Some wealthy slave-owners of Alabama have estates in Mississippi. With a view of checking the increase of these ‘pluralities’, a tax has recently been imposed on absentees.
1893 Law Times 94 452/1 There is a growing feeling that plurality in the matter of directorships is dangerous and to be deprecated.
1977 Musical Times Feb. 120/2 He criticized their neglect of duties and the plurality of appointments that was its cause.
2004 Financial Times (Nexis) 26 Oct. 21 One of the first advocates for plurality of directorships, Mr Leighton holds the chairmanships of the Royal Mail and the BHS retail business and is a non-executive director at British Sky Broadcasting.
3. Originally Scottish. More than half of the whole or of the total number (esp. in an election, referendum, etc.); = majority n.1 3a. In early use also: †the fact of there being a majority (obsolete).
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > incompleteness > part of whole > [noun] > a great part or proportion > the greater part, the majority
the more partOE
the best part ofOE
(the) more parta1350
(the) most parta1350
(the) most part alla1350
(the) most party1372
for (also be, in) the most part (also deal, party)a1387
the better part ofa1393
the mo?a1400
most forcea1400
substancea1413
corsec1420
generalty?c1430
the greater partc1430
three quartersc1470
generalityc1485
the most feck1488
corpse1533
most1553
nine-tenths?1556
better half1566
generality?1570
pluralityc1570
body1574
the great body (of)1588
flush1592
three fourths1600
best1601
heap1609
gross1625
lump1709
bulk1711
majority1714
nineteen in twenty1730
balance1747
sweighta1800
heft1816
chief1841
the force1842
thick end1847
c1570 Art of Music (BL Add. 4911) f. 9v, in Dict. Older Sc. Tongue at Pluralite(e Guid it war to..follow the pluralitie of the nationis of all vther regionis.
1578 38th Gen. Assembly in A. Peterkin Bk. Universall Kirk Scotl. (1839) 178 For electioun of ane Moderatour, Mrs John Row, David Fargysone and John Duncansone, was proponit in leets, and be pluralitie of votes, Mr John Row was chosen Moderator.
1581 Art of Music 522 The said Mr Johne, be pluralitie of votes, was chosin Moderator hac vice.
1600 E. Blount tr. G. F. di Conestaggio Hist. Uniting Portugall to Castill 228 The pluralitie of voices refusing to accept the armes.
1651 T. Hobbes Leviathan xlii. 290 To bring the people together, to elect them by plurality of Votes.
1683 J. Evelyn Mem. (1857) II. 187 The plurality of the younger judges and rising men judged it otherwise.
1703 Duke of Queensberry in H. Ellis Orig. Lett. Eng. Hist. (1827) 2nd Ser. IV. No. 394. 227 This was thrown out by a great plurality.
1786 Daily Universal Reg. 3 Oct. 2/1 The States of Holland and West Frisseland have determined, by a plurality of sixteen to three voices, to [etc.].
1794 Hist. in Ann. Reg. 91/1 The plurality..of their chiefs endeavoured in vain to stem the torrent of disobedience.
1823 Niles' Reg. 24 217/2 At the late election..[in Maine], only three gentlemen were chosen... Neither of the others had a plurality of the whole number of votes.
1871 B. Jowett in tr. Plato Dialogues I. 72 Socrates would rather not decide the question by a plurality of votes.
1928 H. W. Schneider Making Fascist State iii. 88 The bill provided that whichever party should get the plurality of votes in the nation as a whole, should be given two thirds of all the seats.
1991 Internat. Jrnl. Law & Family 5 236 The court disagreed as to whether this shifting of the burden to the defendant was following precedent or taking a new turn. The plurality stated it was not a new interpretation.
4. Originally and chiefly U.S.
a. The fact of having the largest share of the votes cast, when this is less than an absolute majority.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > office > appointment to office > choosing or fact of being chosen for office > election of representative body by vote > proceedings at election > [noun] > the numerical result of voting > numbers of votes received by one candidate
simple majority1689
absolute majority1782
plurality1803
qualified majority1916
1803 U. Tracy in Deb. Congr. U.S. (1852) 8th Congress 1 Sess.165 The public will is sometimes expressed by pluralities instead of majorities.
1846 J. E. Worcester Universal Dict. Eng. Lang. (at cited word) A candidate, in an election, receives a plurality of votes, when he receives more than any other candidate; and he receives a majority of votes, when he receives more than all others.
1885 Pall Mall Gaz. 31 Mar. 8/2 He ran again last fall, and had a plurality over the Republican candidate; but as it requires in that State [sc. Connecticut] a majority over all to elect, the Legislature elected his Republican competitor.
1907 Polit. Sci. Q. 22 646 If, after two ballots have been taken, no candidate has secured a clear majority, a plurality is sufficient to elect.
1992 New Republic 27 July 42/1 Unfortunately, in a three-way race where the prevailing candidate gets only a plurality, not a majority, there is no easy way to say what the people's preference is.
b. The amount by which the vote of such a winning candidate, party, etc., exceeds that of the next (or another specified) candidate. Cf. majority n.1 4.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > free will > choice or choosing > expression of choice by some approved method > [noun] > taking of votes > counting of votes > number on one side exceeding other
majority1737
plurality1832
landslide1856
qualified majority1916
1832 Workingman's Advocate 1 Dec. 1 The Clay electoral ticket has succeeded by a plurality of about 600 votes over the Jackson ticket, and 2,000 over the Anti-Masonic ticket.
1859 National Era 14 Apr. 58 In the first district, Loomis, Republican, is elected by a plurality of 65 votes. Clark only received 216 votes.
1884 Manch. Examiner 8 Nov. 4/7 Governor Cleveland had a thousand plurality in New York State, and was elected President.
1906 U. Sinclair Jungle xxv. 314 On a day of Democratic landslides they elected ‘Scotty’ Doyle, the ex-ten-pin setter, by nearly a thousand plurality.
1948 Chicago Daily News 24 Feb. 1/6 The..primary resulted in a 120,000 plurality for Long over three other candidates. But that was not the clear majority needed for election.
1986 S. Mainwaring in D. H. Levine Relig. & Polit. Conflict Lat. Amer. vii. 137 Leonel Brizola won by a large plurality in Nova Iguaçu.
Compounds
C1. General attributive.
plurality hypothesis n.
ΚΠ
1899 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. VIII. 863 The differences on which the plurality hypothesis is founded.
1944 E. Schrödinger What is Life? 90 Such consequences, even if only tentative, must make us suspicious of the plurality hypothesis, which is common to all official Western creeds.
plurality system n.
ΚΠ
1854 N.-Y. Daily Times 8 Feb. 1/3 In the House to-day, the amendment to the Constitution, by which the plurality system in elections is substituted for the majority system, was adopted by a vote of 226 Yeas to 46 Nays.
1907 Proc. Amer. Polit. Sci. Assoc. 4 187 It seems likely that the public will accept the plurality system before it is reconciled to the complications of the preferential plan.
1991 Parl. Affairs 44 553 Defenders of plurality systems do not take the view that fairness in the sense of proportionality is the prime virtue of an electoral system.
C2. † plurality-gaping adj. Obsolete rare
ΚΠ
1642 J. Milton Apol. Smectymnuus 43 The non-resident and plurality-gaping Prelats, the gulphs and whirle pooles of benefices.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
n.a1398