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 →

2) A large number or variety of things: "a plurality of opinions". tree →

3) (grammar) The state of being plural, more than one. tree →

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 →
• A plurality of the class voted for pizza. tree →
• The town has a plurality of languages and cultures. tree →
• In first past the post, a plurality is enough to win. tree →
• The plurality of nouns is shown by adding -s. tree →
• Democracy needs a plurality of voices. tree →

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, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.