English
multiple
Multiple comes, probably, from French multiple, from Late Latin multiplus.
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEmultiplus1uncertain
- Frenchc. 1600–presentmultiple1uncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 1976multiple1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English multiple
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1976, Jewelers' Circular/Keystone: “First of all, the 'greenhorn' stigma of piercing has…”.
Lineage
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEmultiplusWiktionary, English multipleuncertain
- Frenchc. 1600–presentmultipleWiktionary, English multipleuncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 1976multipleWiktionary, English multiple. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1976, Jewelers' Circular/Keystone: “First of all, the 'greenhorn' stigma of piercing has…”
Word family
English words that share an ancestor with multiple, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.
through Proto-Indo-European *mel- ‘good, big’
41 more relatives in the full family tree
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Today it means
det More than one (followed by plural).
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “multiple”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Late Latin multiplus / multiple