manifold

Etymology 1

From Middle English manifold, from Old English maniġfeald (“manifold, various, varied, complicated, numerous, abundant, plural”), from Proto-Germanic *managafalþaz, equivalent to many + -fold. Cognate with Middle High German manecvalt (“manifold”), Icelandic margfaldr (“multiple”). Compare also German mannigfaltig (“various”), Dutch menigvoudig (“various”), Danish mangefold (“multiple”), Swedish mångfald (“diversity”).

adj

  1. Various in kind or quality; diverse.
    The manifold meanings of the simple English word set are infamous among dictionary makers.
  2. Many in number, numerous; multiple, multiplied.
  3. Complicated.
  4. Exhibited at diverse times or in various ways.
    […] the manyfold grace of God. c. 1384, I Petre 4:10 (Wycliffe's Bible)
    The manifold wisdom of God. 1611, Ephesians 3:10 (w:King James Bible)

adv

  1. Many times; repeatedly.
    when his daughter deare he does behold, / Her dearely doth imbrace, and kisseth manifold. 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, book 1, canto 12

noun

  1. (historical) A copy made by the manifold writing process.
  2. (mechanics) A pipe fitting or similar device that connects multiple inputs or outputs.
  3. (US, dialectal, chiefly in the plural) The third stomach of a ruminant animal, an omasum.
    My conjecture being right he will find the third stomach, or manifolds, the seat of difficulty. 1830, Anson, Somerset Co. Me., retrieved 2007-06-12
  4. (mathematics) A topological space that looks locally like the "ordinary" Euclidean space ℝⁿ and is Hausdorff.
  5. (computer graphics) A polygon mesh representing the continuous, closed surface of a solid object

Etymology 2

From Middle English manifolden, from Old English maniġfealdan (“to multiply, abound, increase, extend, reward”), equivalent to many + -fold. Cognate with Middle High German manecvalten, Icelandic margfalda (“to multiply”), Swedish mångfaldiga (“to manifold, reproduce”).

verb

  1. (transitive) To make manifold; multiply.
  2. (transitive, printing) To multiply or reproduce impressions of by a single operation.

Attribution / Disclaimer All definitions come directly from Wiktionary using the Wiktextract library. We do not edit or curate the definitions for any words, if you feel the definition listed is incorrect or offensive please suggest modifications directly to the source (wiktionary/manifold), any changes made to the source will update on this page periodically.