manifold

• manyfold

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈmænɪˌfoʊld/, (nonstandard) /ˈmɛnɪˌfoʊld/, /ˈmɛniˌfoʊld/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈmænɪˌfəʊld/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: man‧i‧fold
• Rhymes: -ænɪfoʊld
• Rhymes: -əʊld

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”).

manifold (comparative more manifold, superlative most manifold)

1. Various in kind, quality, or manifestation; diverse.

   The manifold meanings of the English word set are infamous among lexicographers.

   • c. 1382–1395, John Wycliffe [et al.], edited by Josiah Forshall and Frederic Madden, The Holy Bible, […], volume IV (in Middle English), Oxford: At the University Press, published 1850, →OCLC, I. Peter IV:10, page 612:

     [E]ch man as he receyuede grace, mynistringe ‘it in to ech other, as goode dispenderes of the manyfolde grace of God.

     Each man as he hath received grace, ministering it unto each other, as good dispensers of the manyfold grace of God.

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Ephesians 3:10:

     To the intent that now vnto the principalities and powers in heauenly places, might be knowen by the church, the manifold wisedome of God,  […]

2. Many in number; numerous.
   • 1549 March 7, Thomas Cranmer [et al.], compilers, “The Supper of the Lorde, and the Holy Communion, Commonly Called the Masse”, in The Booke of the Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacramentes, […], London: […] Edowardi Whitchurche […], →OCLC, folio cxxix, recto:

     And although we be vnworthy (through our manyfolde ſynnes) to offre vnto thee any Sacryfice: Yet we beſeche thee to accepte thys our bounden duetie and ſeruice: and commande theſe our prayers and ſupplicacions, by the Miniſtery of thy holy Angels, to be brought vp into thy holy Tabernacle before the ſyght of thy dyuine maieſtie: […]

3. Complicated.

• (various in kind or quality): diverse, various, varied, multiplicitous; see also Thesaurus:heterogeneous
• (many in number): multiple, numerous; see also Thesaurus:manifold

• onefold
• singlefold

• manifolder
• manifoldly
• manifoldness

manifold (comparative more manifold, superlative most manifold)

1. Many times; repeatedly.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, book 1, canto 12:

     when his daughter deare he does behold, / Her dearely doth imbrace, and kisseth manifold.

   • 1897, Bram Stoker, Dracula:

     It was found necessary to clear the entire piers from the mass of onlookers, or else the fatalities of the night would have been increased manifold.

• manyfold, frequently, ofttimes; see also Thesaurus:often

manifold (plural manifolds)

1. (historical) A copy made by the manifold writing process.
2. (mechanics) A pipe fitting or similar device that connects multiple inputs and outputs.
3. (US, dialectal, chiefly in the plural) The third stomach of a ruminant animal, an omasum.
   • 1830, Anson, Somerset Co. Me.‎^[1], retrieved 12 June 2007:

     My conjecture being right he will find the third stomach, or manifolds, the seat of difficulty.

4. (mathematics) A Hausdorff topological space that looks locally like the "ordinary" Euclidean space ${\displaystyle \mathbb {R} ^{n}}$.
5. (computer graphics) A polygon mesh representing the continuous, closed surface of a solid object

• In mathematics, a manifold of some number of dimensions n is termed an n-manifold (e.g. 3-manifold).

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”).

manifold (third-person singular simple present manifolds, present participle manifolding, simple past and past participle manifolded)

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

manifold m (plural manifolds)

1. (historical) manifold

• “manifold”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.