Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Many and varied; of many kinds; multiple.
  • adjective Having many features or forms.
  • adjective Being such for a variety of reasons.
  • adjective Consisting of or operating several devices of one kind at the same time.
  • noun A whole composed of diverse elements.
  • noun One of several copies.
  • noun A pipe or chamber having multiple apertures for making connections.
  • noun Mathematics A topological space in which each point has a neighborhood that is equivalent to a neighborhood in Euclidean space. The surface of a sphere is a two-dimensional manifold because the neighborhood of each point is equivalent to a part of the plane.
  • transitive verb To make several copies of, as with carbon paper.
  • transitive verb To make manifold; multiply.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To make manifold; multiply; specifically, to multiply impressions of by a single operation, as a letter by means of a manifold-writer, or by the use of carbon-paper in a type-writer.
  • noun In mathematics, given a general conception capable of various determinations or determination-modes, the totality of the determinable particulars is a manifold, of which each is an element. The manifold is continuous or discrete, according as the passage from one determination to another is continuous or discrete.
  • noun Same as manifold-valve.
  • Many times; in multiplied number or quantity.
  • noun The third stomach of a ruminant; the manyplies; the intestines generally.
  • Of many kinds; numerous in kind or variety; varied; diverse.
  • Exhibiting or embracing many points, features, or characteristics; complicated in character; having many parts or relations: used with nouns in the singular number: as, the manifold wisdom or the manifold grace of God (Eph. iii. 10; 1 Pet. iv. 10); “the manifold use of friendship,”
  • noun A complicated object or subject; that which consists of many and various parts; specifically, an aggregate of particulars or units; especially, in mathematics, a multitude of objects connected by a system of relations; an ensemble.
  • noun In Kant's theory of knowledge, the total of the particulars furnished by sense before they are connected by the synthesis of the understanding; that which is in the sense and has not yet been in thought.
  • noun A copy or facsimile made by means of a manifold-writer, or by the use of carbon-paper in a type-writer, etc.
  • noun A tube, usually of cast metal, with one or more flanged or screw-threaded inlets and two or more flanged or screw-threaded outlets for pipe-connections, much used in pipe-fitting for steam-heating coils, or for cooling-coils in breweries, and in other cases where it is useful to convey steam, water, or air from a large pipe into several smaller ones. Also called T-branch and header.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb To take copies of by the process of manifold writing.
  • noun A copy of a writing made by the manifold process.
  • noun (Mech.) A cylindrical pipe fitting, having a number of lateral outlets, for connecting one pipe with several others.
  • noun Local, U.S. The third stomach of a ruminant animal.
  • adjective Various in kind or quality; many in number; numerous; multiplied; complicated.
  • adjective Exhibited at divers times or in various ways; -- used to qualify nouns in the singular number.
  • adjective a process or method by which several copies, as of a letter, are simultaneously made, sheets of coloring paper being infolded with thin sheets of plain paper upon which the marks made by a stylus or a type-writer are transferred; writing several copies of a document at once by use of carbon paper or the like.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb transitive To make manifold; multiply.
  • verb transitive, printing To multiply or reproduce impressions of by a single operation.
  • noun now historical A copy made by the manifold writing process.
  • noun mechanics A pipe fitting or similar device that connects multiple inputs or outputs.
  • noun US, regional, plural The third stomach of a ruminant animal, an omasum.
  • noun mathematics A topological space that looks locally like the "ordinary" Euclidean space and is Hausdorff.
  • adjective Various in kind or quality; many in number; numerous; multiplied; complicated; diverse.
  • adjective Exhibited at diverse times or in various ways.
  • adverb Many times; repeatedly.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb combine or increase by multiplication
  • verb make multiple copies of
  • noun a pipe that has several lateral outlets to or from other pipes
  • noun a lightweight paper used with carbon paper to make multiple copies
  • adjective many and varied; having many features or forms
  • noun a set of points such as those of a closed surface or an analogue in three or more dimensions

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from Old English manigfeald : manig, many; see many + -feald, -fald, -fold.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

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").

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English, from Old English maniġfeald ("manifold, various, varied, complicated, numerous, abundant, plural"), from Proto-Germanic *managaz (“many”) + *-falþaz (“-fold”), equivalent to many +‎ -fold. Cognate with Middle High German manecvalt ("manifold"), Icelandic margfaldr ("multiple"). Compare also German mannigfaltig ("various"), Dutch menigvoudig ("various"), Danish mangfoldig ("diverse"), Swedish mångfaldig ("multiple, manifold, diverse").

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  • I love how this word can be both academic and automotive.

    September 17, 2007