multitude

Noun

US[muhl-tuh-tood]/ˈmʌltəˌtud/3 syllablesalso [muhl-tuht-yood] /ˈmʌltətˌjud/

Synonyms: battalion large number plurality pack throng concourse masses mass hoi polloi people the great unwashed

Open English WordNet

Noun (3)multitudes

a large indefinite quantity“a battalion of ants”“a multitude of TV antennas”“a plurality of religions”Synonyms: battalion large number plurality packType of large indefinite quantity, large indefinite amount
a large gathering of peopleSynonyms: throng concourseType of gathering, assemblageKinds horde, hive, ruck
the common people generally“separate the warriors from the mass”“power to the people”Synonyms: masses mass hoi polloi people the great unwashedType of group, groupingKinds audience, laity, following

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ephemeraladjective

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Webster's Dictionary (1913)

Mul′ti·tude noun

Origin: F. multitude, L. multitudo, multitudinis, fr. multus much, many; of unknown origin.

1. A great number of persons collected together; a numerous collection of persons; a crowd; an assembly.

But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them.— Matt. ix. 36.

2. A great number of persons or things, regarded collectively; as, the book will be read by a multitude of people; the multitude of stars; a multitude of cares.

It is a fault in a multitude of preachers, that they utterly neglect method in their harangues.— Isaac Watts

A multitude of flowers As countless as the stars on high.— Henry W. Longfellow

3. The state of being many; numerousness.

They came as grasshoppers for multitude.— Judg. vi. 5.

The multitude, the populace; the mass of men.

Synonyms: Throng; crowd; assembly; assemblage; commonalty; swarm; populace; vulgar. See Throng.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54

The Devil's Dictionary

MULTITUDE, n. A crowd; the source of political wisdom and virtue. In a republic, the object of the statesman's adoration. "In a multitude of counsellors there is wisdom," saith the proverb. If many men of equal individual wisdom are wiser than any one of them, it must be that they acquire the excess of wisdom by the mere act of getting together. Whence comes it? Obviously from nowhere -- as well say that a range of mountains is higher than the single mountains composing it. A multitude is as wise as its wisest member if it obey him; if not, it is no wiser than its most foolish.