multiple
/ˈmʌltɪpəl/determiner, adjective, noun
multiple is spelled M-U-L-T-I-P-L-E. The wrong spelling people search most is mutiple: about 130 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 34 of all searches for the word. Multiple is a determiner meaning “More than one (followed by plural)”.
How many letters and syllables are in multiple?
| Letters | 8: M-U-L-T-I-P-L-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 83 times per million words; the 1,272nd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 3; the most searched, mutiple, about 130 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How do you spell multiple?
Multiple is spelled M-U-L-T-I-P-L-E. 3 wrong spellings are searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 18 of the searches for multiple in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is multiple?
Multiple appears 83 times per million words in written English, the 1,272nd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce multiple?
- /ˈmʌltɪpəl/
Multiple has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Naomi_Persephone_Amethyst_(NaomiAmethyst)-multiple.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-multiple.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of multiple
- multiples plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does multiple mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
determiner
- 1
More than one (followed by plural).
My Swiss Army knife has multiple blades.
adjective
- 1
Having more than one element, part, component, or function, having more than one instance, occurring more than once, usually contrary to expectations (can be followed by a singular).
Some states do explicitly prohibit multiple citizenship.
- 2
Of a person: displaying or experiencing two or more distinct personalities or selves in one body.
noun
- 1
A whole number that is obtained by multiplying a specific whole number by another whole number.
14, 21 and 70 are multiples of 7
- 2
Price-earnings ratio.
- 3
One of a set of the same thing; a duplicate.
- 4
A single individual who displays or experiences multiple personalities or selves.
- 5
One of a set of siblings produced by a multiple birth.
- 6
A chain store.
- 7
A discovery resulting from the work of many people throughout history, not merely the work of the person who makes the final connection.
- 8
More than one piercing in a single ear.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Multiple in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | multiple |
| German | mehrfach, mehrere , Vielfache |
| Portuguese | múltiplos , múltiplo |
| Spanish | múltiple , múltiplo |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does multiple come from?
From French multiple, itself from Late Latin multiplus.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).