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# plurality

«plurality» in Mova's school dictionary: **More votes than any other single person or party, but not…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### part of speech

noun (a plurality, pluralities)

### meaning for a pupil

1) (voting) More votes than any other single person or party, but not more than half of all votes. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/plurality/#m1)

2) A large number or variety of things: "a plurality of opinions". [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/plurality/#m2)

3) (grammar) The state of being plural, more than one. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/plurality/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

In citizenship lessons on elections, a plurality wins in "first past the post" systems (UK, US, Canada): the candidate with the most votes wins even without a majority. In discussions, "plurality" means many different views living side by side.

### examples

- She won with a plurality, but not a majority. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/plurality/#x1)
- A plurality of the class voted for pizza. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/plurality/#x2)
- The town has a plurality of languages and cultures. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/plurality/#x3)
- In first past the post, a plurality is enough to win. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/plurality/#x4)
- The plurality of nouns is shown by adding -s. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/plurality/#x5)
- Democracy needs a plurality of voices. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/plurality/#x6)

### note

Mostly uncountable or "a plurality". Maths: with 3 candidates getting 40%, 35% and 25%, the first has a plurality (most votes) but not a majority (more than 50%). In UK English "relative majority" means the same.

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «plurality» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/plurality/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.