Plurality

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Plurality \Plu*ral"i*ty\, n.; pl. {pluralities}. [L. pluralitas:
     cf. F. pluralit['e].]
     1. The state of being plural, or consisting of more than one;
        a number consisting of two or more of the same kind; as, a
        plurality of worlds; the plurality of a verb.
        [1913 Webster]


  
     2. The greater number; a majority; also, the greatest of
        several numbers; in elections, the excess of the votes
        given for one candidate over those given for another, or
        for any other, candidate. When there are more than two
        candidates, the one who receives the plurality of votes
        may have less than a majority. See {Majority}.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Take the plurality of the world, and they are
              neither wise nor good.                --L'Estrange.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. (Eccl.) See {Plurality of benefices}, below.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     {Plurality of benefices} (Eccl.), the possession by one
        clergyman of more than one benefice or living. Each
        benefice thus held is called a plurality. [Eng.]
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  plurality
       n 1: the state of being plural; "to mark plurality, one language
            may add an extra syllable to the word whereas another
            may simply change the vowel in the existing final
            syllable"
       2: a large indefinite number; "a battalion of ants"; "a
          multitude of TV antennas"; "a plurality of religions"
          [syn: {battalion}, {large number}, {multitude}, {pack}]
       3: (in an election with more than 2 options) the number of
          votes for the candidate or party receiving the greatest
          number (but less that half of the votes) [syn: {relative
          majority}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  56 Moby Thesaurus words for "plurality":
     a mass of, a world of, army, best part, better part, bevy, body,
     bulk, bunch, cloud, clutter, covey, essence, flight, flock, flocks,
     generality, gist, gravamen, hail, hive, host, jam, large amount,
     legion, lots, main body, major part, majority, many, mass,
     masses of, meat, mob, more than half, most, muchness, multitude,
     nest, numbers, pack, preponderance, preponderancy, quantities,
     quite a few, rout, ruck, scores, shoal, substance, swarm,
     the greatest number, throng, thrust, tidy sum, worlds of
  
  

From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  PLURALITY, government. The greater number of votes given at an election; it 
  is distinguished from a majority, (q.v.) which is a plurality of all the 
  votes which might have been given; though in common parlance majority is 
  used in the sense here given to plurality.