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It is not only important, but, in a degree necessary, that the people of this country, should have an American Dictionary of the English language; for, although the body of the language is the same as in England, and it is desirable to perpetuate that sameness, yet some differences must exist. Language is the expression of ideas; and if the people of one country cannot preserve an identity of ideas, they cannot retain an identity of language. |
MUL'TIPLE, a. [L. multiplex; multus, many, and plico, to fold.]
Containing many times.
MUL'TIPLE, n. In arithmetic, a common multiple of two or more numbers contains each of them a certain number of times exactly; thus 24 is a common multiple of 3 and 4. But the least common multiple, is the least number which will do this; thus 12 is the least common multiple of 3 and 4.
Containing more than once, or more than one; consisting of more
than one; manifold; repeated many times; having several, or many,
parts.
Law of multiple proportion (Chem.), the generalization that when the same elements unite in more than one proportion, forming two or more different compounds, the higher proportions of the elements in such compounds are simple multiples of the lowest proportion, or the proportions are connected by some simple common factor; thus, iron and oxygen unite in the proportions FeO, Fe2O3, Fe3O4, in which compounds, considering the oxygen, 3 and 4 are simple multiplies of 1. Called also the Law of Dalton, from its discoverer. -- Multiple algebra, a branch of advanced mathematics that treats of operations upon units compounded of two or more unlike units. -- Multiple conjugation (Biol.), a coalescence of many cells (as where an indefinite number of amœboid cells flow together into a single mass) from which conjugation proper and even fertilization may have been evolved. -- Multiple fruits. (Bot.) See Collective fruit, under Collective. -- Multiple star (Astron.), several stars in close proximity, which appear to form a single system. A
quantity containing another quantity a number of times without a
remainder.
* A common multiple of two or more numbers contains each of them a number of times exactly; thus, 24 is a common multiple of 3 and 4. The least common multiple is the least number that will do this; thus, 12 is the least common multiple of 3 and 4. | ||||||||