# multiply

Pronunciation: say "MUL-ti-ply" /ˈmʌltɪplaɪ/

## Verb

1. To perform multiplication on a number, combining it with another factor to find their product.
   - Simple: To add a number to itself a set number of times to find a total.
   - _Multiply the length by the width to find the area of the rectangle._
   - _Students learn to multiply two-digit numbers in the third grade._
2. To cause something to grow in number, quantity, or extent.
   - Simple: To make something much greater in size, number, or amount.
   - _Investing early can multiply your savings over the course of a career._
   - _The hasty rollout multiplied the company's risks across every department._
3. To grow greater in number; to increase over time.
   - Simple: To grow larger in number over time.
   - _Without predators, the insects multiplied across the entire valley._
   - _Problems multiply whenever no one is willing to take charge._
4. To carry out the operation of multiplication.
   - Simple: To work out answers by doing multiplication in math.
   - _He learned to multiply before starting the fourth grade._
   - _The calculator can multiply faster than anyone in the room._
5. To breed or reproduce, producing more of one's own kind.
   - Simple: To produce young and grow into a much bigger group.
   - _Left unchecked, the pests will multiply through the whole orchard._
   - _These plants multiply readily from a handful of cuttings._

## Adverb

Pronunciation: say "MUL-ti-plee" /ˈmʌltɪpli/

6. In many ways or respects at once.
   - Simple: In many different ways.
   - _The findings were multiply confirmed across several independent studies._
   - _His testimony was multiply contradicted by the other witnesses._

## Noun

7. A single multiplication, counted as one operation in a calculation or computation.
   - Simple: One act of multiplying two numbers together.
   - _A single multiply can be broken into several simpler operations._
   - _The chip performs one multiply per clock cycle._

## Verb

8. Of a number or quantity, to stand as one of the factors in a multiplication with another. *(rare)*
   - Simple: To combine with another number as one of two factors being multiplied.
   - _In the equation, the constant multiplies every term inside the brackets._
   - _When two negative numbers multiply each other, the result is positive._

## Origin

**Meanings 1–5, 7–8** — From Old French multiplier, from Latin multiplicō, formed from multi ("many") and plicō ("I fold"). The noun presumably comes from the verb.
**Meaning 6** — Formed from multiple plus the suffix -ly.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/multiply (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).