plurality

 plurality on Wikipedia

From plural +‎ -ity, from Middle English pluralite, from Old French pluralité (“multitude, state of being plural”), from Latin plūrālitās.

• IPA^(key): /plʊˈɹæləti/, /plʊˈɹælɪti/

• Audio (General American):

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• Audio (Southern England):

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• Rhymes: -ælɪti

plurality (countable and uncountable, plural pluralities)

1. (uncountable) The state of being plural.
   • 2025, Cid Swanenvleugel, The Pre-Roman Elements of the Sardinian Lexicon, page 333:

     Nominal plurality in Basque is originally exclusively marked on definite determiners and not on nouns.

2. (ecclesiastical) The holding of multiple benefices.

   Synonym: pluralism

   • 1644, John Milton, Areopagitica:

     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.

3. (countable) A state of being numerous.

   Synonym: multiplicity

4. (countable) A number or part of a whole which is greater than any other number or part, but not necessarily a majority.
   • 2012 November 9, Josh Levs, “The New America: What the election teaches us about ourselves”, in CNN‎^[1], archived from the original on 6 December 2022:

     “America will soon belong to the men and women … who can comfortably walk into a room and accept with real comfort the sensation that … there are no real majorities, only pluralities and coalitions.

   • 2019 January 11, Grace Sparks, “Who gets blamed for a government shutdown?”, in CNN‎^[2], archived from the original on 22 September 2023:

     A plurality of respondents said Republicans were more to blame than Clinton in every single poll. Between 43% and 51% blamed Republicans and between 25% and 34% blamed Clinton, depending on the poll.

5. (countable) 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.

   Synonym: relative majority

   • 1977 September 8, "Crime against clarity", editorial, Bangor Daily News, page 14 [3]:

     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.

   • 2019 March 19, Zachary B. Wolf, “Why Democrats hate the Electoral College and Republicans love it”, in CNN‎^[4], archived from the original on 11 November 2022:

     It could also radicalize American politics and lead to presidents who are elected with very small pluralities, or who failed to qualify for the ballot in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.”

6. (countable) A margin by which a number exceeds another number, especially of votes.
   • 1948 December 10, “President Race Ignored by 683,382 Voters”, in The Deseret News‎^[5], page A-2:

     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.

7. (countable) A group of many entities: a large number.

   A plurality of ideas were put forth at the meeting, most of which were rejected out of hand.

8. (countable) A group composed of more than one entity.
   • 1989, United States Patent 5065364, abstract:

     The array is organized into a plurality of vertical (column) blocks.

9. (of spouses) Polygamy.
10. (psychology) Synonym of multiplicity (“the condition whereby a person displays or experiences multiple distinct personalities or selves in one body”).
    • 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:

      In this paper I argue that hearing voices experiences and plurality are part of a broad, rich, and complex spectrum of human experience, […]

    • 2020, Tynan Drake, "Intersectional Representation: LGBTQ+ and neurodiverse voices in transmedia fiction", paper submitted to Ball State University, page 5:

      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.

    • 2020, Meg-John Barker, “Plural selves, queer, and comics”, in Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics, volume 11, number 4:

      People often find it easiest to recognise plurality in themselves when they reflect on how they behave in different relationships or situations.

    • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:plurality.

• (antonym(s) of “state of being more than one”): singularity

• superminority, qualified minority, simple majority, relative majority, absolute majority, qualified majority, supermajority

• plurality rule