(n.) 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.
(n.) 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.
(n.) See Plurality of benefices, below.
Example Sentences:
(1) Thus it is unclear how a language learner determines whether German even has a regular plural, and if so what form it takes.
(2) Discussion deals with the plurality, specificity, variability, perceived necessity, sufficiency, international utility and career significance of British postgraduate qualifications.
(3) A lawyer advising one of the newspaper groups opposing the deal said: "All the regulator has to prove is that there is a potential for a reduction in plurality in the UK.
(4) The BBC should not be forced to close any channels or axe any programmes as part of any review of plurality and ownership in the media industry, according to a submission the broadcaster has filed with media regulator Ofcom .
(5) How are medical roles adapted to the situation of medical pluralism and the predicaments that flow from such a situation.
(6) Plural HCV-J genomes were found in two of the cDNAs derived from liver specimens, and a deletion of 102 nucleotides was found in the cDNA derived from one plasma specimen.
(7) The Conservative peer and chancellor of the University of Oxford took the view – rightly – two decades ago that Hong Kong’s prosperity was underpinned by a free and plural society.
(8) "I find it quite curious that it's Mark Thompson who is leading the charge about News Corp's plurality when the BBC always put their hands up and say we're impartial.
(9) Starting of from the notion that medicine presents a plurality of aims, it is proposed that it should be conceived as a "science of actions" rather than as a "science of objects".
(10) Of particular importance in shaping public policy are four factors: (1) the American character, including ideas and attitudes that are the basis of politics and policy; (2) the pluralism that characterizes the process, including the relationship between government and the private sector and the dominant role of the private sector; (3) the federal system that distributes authority among various levels of government (federalism); and (4) incrementalism, which is the step-by-step process that characterizes the development of policies.
(11) These observations indicate a plurality of sites of action of GAL on digestive tract motility including local duodenal receptors and suggest the importance of a spinal component in the control of motility by GAL when given intrathecally.
(12) "Well I think Christopher [Pyne] said schools would get the same amount of money, and schools – plural – will get the same amount of money.
(13) The National Infant Mortality Surveillance (NIMS) project aggregated data provided by 53 vital statistics reporting areas--50 States, New York City, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico (subsequently called States)--from their files of linked birth and death certificates and compared individual States' total infant mortality experiences for the 1980 birth cohort by age at death, race, birth weight, and plurality.
(14) A case of presumed psychosis in a 16-year-old Taiwanese girl is examined to show the role of performance in creating meaning in a plural medical system.
(15) On the evidence available, I consider that it may be the case that the merger may operate against the public interest in media plurality," Hunt said.
(16) Mr Cable can now prove his faith in competition by referring the Sky bid on the grounds of the effect it would have on media plurality.
(17) The regulators have confirmed that the proposed undertakings are still sufficient to ensure media plurality," Hunt said.
(18) They merely want a genuinely plural political system and fair elections.
(19) The NRA has not won the argument – only a tiny percentage believe, like the NRA, that controls are too strict and a plurality want to make them stricter – but they do keep on winning the votes.
(20) The use of singular and plural first-person pronouns provided a measure of individuality and mutuality in families of 18 field-dependent and 20 field-independent children (19 boys and 19 girls).
Polygyny
Definition:
(n.) The state or practice of having several wives at the same time; marriage to several wives.
Example Sentences:
(1) The custom of polygyny practised by these people enabled the analysis of associations between full-siblings and half-siblings.
(2) The hypothesis that polygyny is associated with higher fertility than monogamy was evaluated.
(3) Polygyny is common and men control most of the resources.
(4) The hypothesis that the centrosome is maternally inherited was tested during parthenogenesis, polyspermy, and polygyny as well as after recovery from microtubule inhibition at first mitosis.
(5) The high frequency of polygyny in Texas indicates that the fire ant problem in the state is much greater than previously realized.
(6) Male mammals show a diverse array of mating bonds, including obligate monogamy, unimale and group polygyny and promiscuity.
(7) Traditional attitudes towards marriage and sexuality affect urban behavior in the extent of marital stability, the frequency of polygyny, and the emotional bond between spouses.
(8) The frequency of polygyny varied somewhat with geographic region, but the pattern was generally unrelated to habitat and environmental conditions.
(9) These results suggest that the expansion of the cerebral cortex in anthropoids may be associated with terrestriality and polygyny.
(10) The postindependence marriage codes have attempted to give young women more say in choosing a husband, to regulate the practice of bride price, and to limit the practice of polygyny.
(11) Further, the structure of agricultural development has resulted in changes in women's participation in agriculture and polygyny rates, which have had impacts on birth rates.
(12) Polygyny was discovered at 54% of the infested sites.
(13) However, in Nigeria polygyny cannot wholly explain length of postpartum taboo following child birth on the ground that competition among cowives to out do one another in child-bearing results in a tendency of higher fertility and hence shorter postpartum taboo in polygynous households than that in monogamous families.
(14) Data were collected on age, age at marriage, menopause, monogamy or polygyny, total number of children born, number of miscarriages, number of stillbirths, number of children currently living, and contraception.
(15) The hypothesis was judged to be useless because 1) fertility rates are the product of multiple influences; 2) it is too difficult to separate out these multiple influences, given the variability involved in polygynous practices and the inadequates of the data; and 3) the influence of polygyny on fertility is too slight to take into account.
(16) Hence, the tendency for women in polygynous households to adhere more strictly to rules and taboos relating to postpartum abstinence could be associated to the changing roles of women as they affect their responsibility with respect to the maintenance and training of their children rather than to the institution of polygyny per se.
(17) Although the pharaoh's ant offers relatively good possibilities for the selection of resistance on account of the polygyny, the duration of generations in the range of a whole year under field conditions and the isogeny of the colonies diminished the development of resistance.
(18) Factors of the material environment (availability of water and electricity in the residence), size of a household and number of wage earners in it are pervasive and suggest a polarity between archaic elements in the society (low material comfort, polygyny, absence of contraception) and the more forward looking (monogamy, tertiary occupations).
(19) These include the male's greater aggressiveness, the preponderance of polygyny over polyandry, and differences in the antecedents of jealousy.
(20) polyspermy, polygyny, asynchrony between male and female pronucleus development, and preactivation of cytokinesis.