plurality
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /plʊˈɹæləti/
ipa: /plʊˈɹælɪti/
rhymes: -ælɪti
Forms: form: pluralities
Etymology: From plural + -ity, from Middle English pluralite, from Old French pluralité (“multitude, state of being plural”), from Latin plūrālitās.
Senses: examples: text: Nominal plurality in Basque is originally exclusively marked on definite determiners and not on nouns.
ref: 2025, Cid Swanenvleugel, The Pre-Roman Elements of the Sardinian Lexicon, page 333:
glosses: The state of being plural.
examples: text: It was the complaint and lamentation of Prelats, upon every least breath of a motion to remove pluralities, and distribute more equally Church revennu's, that then all learning would be for ever dasht and discourag'd.
ref: 1644, John Milton, Areopagitica:
topics: ecclesiastical
lifestyle
religion
synonyms: pluralism
glosses: The holding of multiple benefices.
synonyms: multiplicity
glosses: A state of being numerous.
glosses: A number or part of a whole which is greater than any other number or part, but not necessarily a majority.
examples: text: To repeal the tax (Question I), a 50 per cent majority vote is required. To keep the tax in its 1976 form (Question III), only a plurality of votes is required.
ref: 1977 September 8, "Crime against clarity", editorial, Bangor Daily News, page 14 http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=818zAAAAIBAJ&sjid=TiMIAAAAIBAJ&pg=1343,2352985
synonyms: relative majority
glosses: A number of votes for a single candidate or position which is greater than the number of votes gained by any other single candidate or position voted for, but which is less than a majority of valid votes cast.
examples: text: Truman's total vote was 24,104,836. Dewey received 21,969,500;[…]. Truman won by a plurality of 2,135,336, but it was the first time since 1916 that a winner has failed to capture a majority of all votes cast.
ref: 1948 December 10, “President Race Ignored by 683,382 Voters”, in The Deseret News, page A-2:
glosses: A margin by which a number exceeds another number, especially of votes.
examples: text: A plurality of ideas were put forth at the meeting, most of which were rejected out of hand.
glosses: A group of many entities: a large number.
examples: text: The array is organized into a plurality of vertical (column) blocks.
ref: 1989, United States Patent 5065364, abstract
glosses: A group composed of more than one entity.
glosses: Polygamy.
raw_tags: of spouses
examples: text: In this paper I argue that hearing voices experiences and plurality are part of a broad, rich, and complex spectrum of human experience, […]
ref: 2016, Lori F. Clarke, “Embracing Polyphony: Voices, Improvisation, and the Hearing Voices Network”, in Intersectionalities: A Global Journal of Social Work Analysis, Research, Polity, and Practice, volume 5, number 2, page 1:
text: Clinical psychology tends to lean towards early childhood trauma as an explanation for the development of plurality, but many members of the plurality community report experiencing a multiplicity of selves before, or even completely in the absence of, trauma.
ref: 2020, Tynan Drake, "Intersectional Representation: LGBTQ+ and neurodiverse voices in transmedia fiction", paper submitted to Ball State University, page 5
text: People often find it easiest to recognise plurality in themselves when they reflect on how they behave in different relationships or situations.
ref: 2020, Meg-John Barker, “Plural selves, queer, and comics”, in Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics, volume 11, number 4:
topics: human-sciences
psychology
sciences
glosses: Synonym of multiplicity (“the condition whereby a person displays or experiences multiple distinct personalities or selves in one body”).
synonyms: word: multiplicity
extra: the condition whereby a person displays or experiences multiple distinct personalities or selves in one body
Coordinate terms: superminority
qualified minority
simple majority
relative majority
absolute majority
qualified majority
supermajority
Derived terms: plurality rule