multiset

M3U1L1T1I1S1E1T1

noun

A generalized type of set in which multiple occurrences of an element are permitted.

“Two words are anagrams if they are made up of the same multiset of letters.”

Similar
bagmset
UncommonScrabble 10

Meanings

nounmultiset (plural multisets)

plural multisets

  1. mathematicsA generalized type of set in which multiple occurrences of an element are permitted.

    Two words are anagrams if they are made up of the same multiset of letters.

    3 more examples

    Membrane computing essentially deals with multisets, which are sets with multiplicities associated with their elements.

    2002, Gheorghe Pǎun, Membrane Computing: An Introduction, Springer, page 49

    2006, Xin Chen, Lan Liu, Zheng Liu, Tao Jiang, On the Minimum Common Integer Partition Problem, Tiziana Calamoneri, Irene Finocchi, Giuseppe F. Italiano (editors), Algorithms and Complexity: 6th Italian Conference CIAC 2006, Proceedings, Springer, LNCS 3998, page 236, A partition of a positive integer n is a multiset of positive integers that add up to exactly n, and an integer partition of a multiset S of integers is defined as the multiset union of partitions of integers in S.

    2012, Edward A. Scheinerman, Mathematics: A Discrete Introduction Brooks/Cole (Cengage Learning), page 102, Two multisets are the same provided they contain the same elements with the same multiplicities. For example, {1, 2, 3, 3} = {3, 1, 3, 2}, but {1, 2, 3, 3} ≠ {1, 2, 3, 3, 3}.

    Synonyms: bag, mset

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA generalized type of set in which multiple occurrences of an element are permitted.

Similar
bagmset
Also see

Origin

Coined by Nicolaas Govert de Bruijn, multi- + set.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Chinese Mandarin 多重集, 多重集合
  • 多重集 (duōchóngjí)generalized type of set that may contain multiple occurrences of elements
  • 多重集合 (duōchóngjíhé)generalized type of set that may contain multiple occurrences of elements
Czech multimnožina
  • multimnožinageneralized type of set that may contain multiple occurrences of elements
Finnish monijoukko
  • monijoukkogeneralized type of set that may contain multiple occurrences of elements
French multiensemble
  • multiensemblegeneralized type of set that may contain multiple occurrences of elements
German Multimenge
  • Multimengegeneralized type of set that may contain multiple occurrences of elements
Italian multiinsieme
  • multiinsiemegeneralized type of set that may contain multiple occurrences of elements
Japanese 多重集合
  • 多重集合 (tajūshūgō)generalized type of set that may contain multiple occurrences of elements
Polish multizbiór, wielozbiór
  • multizbiórgeneralized type of set that may contain multiple occurrences of elements
  • wielozbiórgeneralized type of set that may contain multiple occurrences of elements
Russian мультимно́жество
  • мультимно́жество (mulʹtimnóžestvo)generalized type of set that may contain multiple occurrences of elements
Swedish multimängd
  • multimängdgeneralized type of set that may contain multiple occurrences of elements
Cite this entry
APA

multiset. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/multiset

MLA

“multiset.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/multiset. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “multiset,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/multiset.

Source: multiset on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.