English
multiple
Multiple comes, probably, from French multiple, from Late Latin multiplus.
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEmultiplusuncertain
- Frenchc. 1600–presentmultipleuncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 1976same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEmultiplusuncertain
- Frenchc. 1600–presentmultipleuncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 1976same form
Earliest quotation: 1976, Jewelers' Circular/Keystone: “First of all, the 'greenhorn' stigma of piercing has…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *mel- ‘good, big’
amelia, mole, dulcimer, 30 more
through Latin multus ‘much’
Today it means
det More than one (followed by plural).
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Late Latin multiplus / multiple