multifarious

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mul·ti·far·i·ous

(mŭl′tə-fâr′ē-əs)

adj.

Having great variety; diverse.

[From Latin multifāriam, in many places : multi-, multi- + -fāriam, adv. suff.; see dhē- in Indo-European roots.]

mul′ti·far′i·ous·ly adv.

mul′ti·far′i·ous·ness n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

multifarious

(ˌmʌltɪˈfɛərɪəs)

adj

having many parts of great variety

[C16: from Late Latin multifārius manifold, from Latin multifāriam on many sides]

ˌmultiˈfariously adv

ˌmultiˈfariousness n

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

mul•ti•far•i•ous

(ˌmʌl təˈfɛər i əs)

adj.

1. having many different parts, elements, forms, etc.

2. numerous and varied; manifold: multifarious activities.

[1585–95; < Late Latin multifārius, adj. derivative of Latin multifāriam on many sides]

mul`ti•far′i•ous•ly, adv.

mul`ti•far′i•ous•ness, n.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Adj.

multifarious - having many aspects; "a many-sided subject"; "a multifaceted undertaking"; "multifarious interests"; "the multifarious noise of a great city"; "a miscellaneous crowd"

multifaceted, many-sided, miscellaneous

varied - characterized by variety; "immigrants' varied ethnic and religious traditions"; "his work is interesting and varied"

multifarious

adjective diverse, many, different, varied, numerous, multiple, legion, diversified, miscellaneous, sundry, variegated, manifold, multitudinous, multiform a composite of multifarious religions and people

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

multifarious

adjective

Consisting of a number of different kinds:

assorted, divers, diverse, diversified, heterogeneous, miscellaneous, mixed, motley, multiform, sundry, varied, variegated, various.

Biology: polymorphic, polymorphous.

Translations

molteplice multiforme vario

divers veelvoudig

multifarious

[ˌmʌltɪˈfɛərɪəs] ADJ → múltiple, vario

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

multifarious

[ˌmʌltɪˈfɛəriəs] adj → divers(e), varié(e)

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

multifarious

adj → vielfältig, mannigfaltig

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

multifarious

[ˌmʌltɪˈfɛərɪəs] adj → molteplice, svariato/a

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

References in classic literature ?

I should hear it still rippling on with its gentle harpsichord tinkle, as I stretched myself down among the cool lavendered sheets, and little by little let slip the multifarious world.

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But during these earlier days of my stay they broke the Law only furtively and after dark; in the daylight there was a general atmosphere of respect for its multifarious prohibitions.

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For six months she saved her egg-money, which was hers by right of allotment, and on his birthday presented him with a turning-lathe of wonderful simplicity and multifarious efficiencies.

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The first ray of light which illumines the gloom, and converts into a dazzling brilliancy that obscurity in which the earlier history of the public career of the immortal Pickwick would appear to be involved, is derived from the perusal of the following entry in the Transactions of the Pickwick Club, which the editor of these papers feels the highest pleasure in laying before his readers, as a proof of the careful attention, indefatigable assiduity, and nice discrimination, with which his search among the multifarious documents confided to him has been conducted.

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Thus John Endicott was a man of multifarious business, and had no time to look back regretfully to his native land.

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This famous old French trading post continued to be a rallying point for a multifarious and motley population.

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And thus for a time I was occupied by exploded systems, mingling, like an unadept, a thousand contradictory theories and floundering desperately in a very slough of multifarious knowledge, guided by an ardent imagination and childish reasoning, till an accident again changed the current of my ideas.

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And before I get involved in the multifarious details of my new position, I should like to have secured my partner."

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This may be so because my reading was much more multifarious than it had been earlier, or because I was reading always two or three authors at a time.

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She was only fond of her children in private, and it was lucky for her that Lady Southdown's multifarious business, her conferences with ministers, and her correspondence with all the missionaries of Africa, Asia, and Australasia, &c., occupied the venerable Countess a great deal, so that she had but little time to devote to her granddaughter, the little Matilda, and her grandson, Master Pitt Crawley.

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The doctor then communicated, in reply to multifarious questions from his young friend, a precise account of his patient's situation; which was quite as consolatory and full of promise, as Oliver's statement had encouraged him to hope; and to the whole of which, Mr.

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Such, for example, were the well-washed pebbles and gravel of the sidewalk; even the sky-reflecting pools in the centre of the street; and the grass, now freshly verdant, that crept along the base of the fences, on the other side of which, if one peeped over, was seen the multifarious growth of gardens.