Revised 2003
multiculturaladjective
Factsheet
What does the adjective multicultural mean?
There is one meaning in OED's entry for the adjective multicultural. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definition, usage, and quotation evidence.
How common is the adjective multicultural?
About 3occurrences per million words in modern written English
| 1930 | 0.0024 |
| 1940 | 0.0048 |
| 1950 | 0.015 |
| 1960 | 0.1 |
| 1970 | 0.4 |
| 1980 | 1.7 |
| 1990 | 3.2 |
| 2000 | 4.4 |
| 2010 | 4.7 |
How is the adjective multicultural pronounced?
British English
/ˌmʌltɪˈkʌltʃ(ə)rəl/
mul-tee-KULCH-uh-ruhl
U.S. English
/ˌməltiˈkəl(t)ʃ(ə)r(ə)l/
muhl-tee-KULCH-uh-ruhl
/ˌməltaɪˈkəl(t)ʃ(ə)r(ə)l/
muhl-tigh-KULCH-uh-ruhl
Where does the adjective multicultural come from?
Earliest known use
1930s
The earliest known use of the adjective multicultural is in the 1930s.
OED's earliest evidence for multicultural is from 1935, in American Journal of Sociology.
multicultural is formed within English, by compounding.
Etymons: multi- comb. form, cultural adj.
Nearby entries
- multicorneal, adj.1883–
- multicostate, adj.1849–
- multi-country, adj.1950–
- multi-county, adj.1938–
- multi-course, adj.1903–
- multicropping, n.1965–
- multicrore, adj.1952–
- Multics, n.1965–
- multicult, n. & adj.1980–
- multiculti, adj. & n.1989–
- multicultural, adj.1935–
- multiculturalism, n.1957–
- multiculturalist, n. & adj.1979–
- Multicultural London English, n.2006–
- multiculturism, n.1975–
- multi-currency, adj.1965–
- multicursal, adj.1922–
- multicuspid, adj.1838–
- multicuspidate, adj.1841–
- multicycle, n. & adj.1887–
- multicyclic, adj.1951–
Etymology
Meaning & use
Contents
- 1935–Of or relating to a society consisting of a number of cultural groups, esp. in which the distinctive cultural identity of each group is maintained.
- 1935
The marginal man arises in a bi-cultural or multi-cultural situation.
American Journal of Sociology vol. 41 1 - 1941
A fervent sermon against nationalism, national prejudice and behavior in favor of a ‘multicultural’ way of life.
New York Herald-Tribune 27 July (Books) 3 - 1959
This multi-cultural, multi-lingual society [of Montreal]..is one of the most cosmopolitan in the world.
Times 18 June (Supplement) p. iv/4 - 1966
For the provision of troops and police [to Rhodesia], consideration should be given to states which are multi-cultural (e.g., Canada) or multiracial (e.g., Trinidad, Jamaica, and New Zealand).
Economist 22 January 273/2 - 1970
Education in a multicultural society.
P. K. C. Millins (title) - 1975
Trustee Daniel Leckie, chairman of the work group, puts it this way: ‘Morally, legally and pragmatically we are bound to adopt a thoroughly multicultural approach toward public education in Toronto.’
Globe & Mail (Toronto) 21 May 5/1 - 1990
The United States..in spite of everything really is multicultural.
Marxism Today February 19/1
society society and the community customs, values, and civilization [adjectives] having two or more cultures- international1824–Located or held in one place but involving people of two or more nations; characterized by the presence of many nationalities or cultures…
- multicultural1935–Of or relating to a society consisting of a number of cultural groups, esp. in which the distinctive cultural identity of each group is maintained.
- bicultural1940–Having or combining two cultures.
- polycultural1942–Involving or consisting of a number of (esp. well-integrated) cultural or ethnic groups; reflecting or embodying several cultural or ethnic…
- integrated1948–Of institutions, groups, etc., which are not divided by considerations based on race or culture (see integrate, v. 2b).
- pluricultural1960–Of a society, state, region, etc.: containing a number of distinct cultural groups. Cf. multicultural, adj.
- multicult1980–Of or relating to immigrants to Canada of a European origin other than British, French, or Irish. Cf. multicultural, adj.
- multiculti1989–Multicultural; of or relating to multiculturalism or multiculturalists; (sometimes) spec. of or relating to multiculti music (see sense B.1(b)).
Pronunciation
British English
/ˌmʌltɪˈkʌltʃ(ə)rəl/
mul-tee-KULCH-uh-ruhl
U.S. English
/ˌməltiˈkəl(t)ʃ(ə)r(ə)l/
muhl-tee-KULCH-uh-ruhl
/ˌməltaɪˈkəl(t)ʃ(ə)r(ə)l/
muhl-tigh-KULCH-uh-ruhl
See also multi- comb. form and cultural adj..
Pronunciation keys
Consonants
- ppea
- ttea
- kkey
- bbuy
- ddye
- ɡguy
- tʃchore
- dʒjay
- ffore
- θthaw
- ssore
- ʃshore
- vvee
- ðthee
- zzee
- ʒbeige
- xloch
- hhay
- llay
- ɬrhingyll
- rray
- wway
- jyore
- mmay
- nnay
- ŋsing
Some consonants can take the function of the vowel in unstressed syllables. Where necessary, a syllabic marker diacritic is used, hence <petal> /ˈpɛtl/ but <petally> /ˈpɛtl̩i/.
Vowels
- iːfleece
- ihappy
- ɪkit
- ɛdress
- atrap, bath
- ɑːstart, palm, bath
- ɒlot
- ɔːthought, force
- ʌstrut
- ʊfoot
- uːgoose
- əletter
- əːnurse
- ɪənear
- ɛːsquare
- ʊəcure
- eɪface
- ʌɪpride
- aʊmouth
- əʊgoat
- ɔɪvoice
- ãgratin
- ɒ̃salon
- ᵻ(/ɪ/-/ə/)
- ᵿ(/ʊ/-/ə/)
Other symbols
- The symbol ˈ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with primary stress.
- The symbol ˌ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with secondary stress.
- Round brackets ( ) in a transcription indicate that the symbol within the brackets is optional.
View the pronunciation model here.
Consonants
- ppea
- ttea
- kkey
- bbuy
- ddye*
- ɡguy
- tʃchore
- dʒjay
- ffore
- θthaw
- ssore
- ʃshore
- vvee
- ðthee
- zzee
- ʒbeige
- xloch
- hhay
- llay
- rray
- wway
- jyore
- mmay
- nnay
- ŋsing
* /d/ also represents a 'tapped' /t/ as in <bitter>
Some consonants can take the function of the vowel in unstressed syllables. Where necessary, a syllabic marker diacritic is used, hence <petal> /ˈpɛd(ə)l/ but <petally> /ˈpɛdl̩i/.
Vowels
- ifleece, happy
- ɪkit
- ɛdress
- ætrap, bath
- ɑlot, palm, cloth, thought
- ɑrstart
- ɔcloth, thought
- ɔrnorth, force
- ʊfoot
- ugoose
- əstrut, comma
- ərnurse, letter
- ɪ(ə)rnear
- ɛ(ə)rsquare
- ʊ(ə)rcure
- eɪface
- aɪpride
- aʊmouth
- oʊgoat
- ɔɪvoice
- ɑ̃gratin
- æ̃salon
- ᵻ(/ɪ/-/ə/)
- ᵿ(/ʊ/-/ə/)
Other symbols
- The symbol ˈ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with primary stress.
- The symbol ˌ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with secondary stress.
- Round brackets ( ) in a transcription indicate that the symbol within the brackets is optional.
View the pronunciation model here.
Simple text respell breaks words into syllables, separated by a hyphen. The syllable which carries the primary stress is written in capital letters. This key covers both British and U.S. English Simple Text Respell.
Consonants
b, d, f, h, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, v, w and z have their standard English values
- gguy
- jjay
- yyore
- chchore
- khloch
- shshore
- ththaw
- dhthee
- zhbeige
Vowels
- atrap
- ahpalm
- airsquare
- arstart
- arrcarry (British only)
- awthought
- ayface
- a(ng)gratin
- edress
- eefleece
- eerdeer
- errmerry
- ikit
- ighpride
- irrmirror
- olot (British only)
- ohgoat
- oogoose
- oorcure
- orforce
- orrsorry (British only)
- owmouth
- oyvoice
- o(ng)salon
- ustrut
- uhletter
- urnurse
- urrhurry
- uufoot
Frequency
multicultural typically occurs about three times per million words in modern written English.
multicultural is in frequency band 5, which contains words occurring between 1 and 10 times per million words in modern written English. More about OED's frequency bands
Frequency of multicultural, adj., 1930–2010
* Occurrences per million words in written English
Historical frequency series are derived from Google Books Ngrams (version 2), a data set based on a corpus of several million books printed in English between 1500 and 2010. The Ngrams data has been cross-checked against frequency measures from other corpora, and re-analysed in order to handle homographs and other ambiguities.
The overall frequency for a given word is calculated by summing frequencies for the main form of the word, any plural or inflected forms, and any major spelling variations.
Smoothing has been applied to series for lower-frequency words, using a moving-average algorithm. This reduces short-term fluctuations, which may be produced by variability in the content of the Google Books corpus.
| Decade | Frequency per million words |
|---|---|
| 1930 | 0.0024 |
| 1940 | 0.0048 |
| 1950 | 0.015 |
| 1960 | 0.1 |
| 1970 | 0.4 |
| 1980 | 1.7 |
| 1990 | 3.2 |
| 2000 | 4.4 |
| 2010 | 4.7 |
Frequency of multicultural, adj., 2017–2023
* Occurrences per million words in written English
Modern frequency series are derived from a corpus of 20 billion words, covering the period from 2017 to the present. The corpus is mainly compiled from online news sources, and covers all major varieties of World English.
Smoothing has been applied to series for lower-frequency words, using a moving-average algorithm. This reduces short-term fluctuations, which may be produced by variability in the content of the corpus.
| Period | Frequency per million words |
|---|---|
| Oct.–Dec. 2017 | 1.4 |
| Jan.–Mar. 2018 | 1.5 |
| Apr.–June 2018 | 1.7 |
| July–Sept. 2018 | 1.7 |
| Oct.–Dec. 2018 | 1.7 |
| Jan.–Mar. 2019 | 1.8 |
| Apr.–June 2019 | 1.9 |
| July–Sept. 2019 | 1.8 |
| Oct.–Dec. 2019 | 1.7 |
| Jan.–Mar. 2020 | 1.6 |
| Apr.–June 2020 | 1.6 |
| July–Sept. 2020 | 1.6 |
| Oct.–Dec. 2020 | 1.7 |
| Jan.–Mar. 2021 | 1.7 |
| Apr.–June 2021 | 1.8 |
| July–Sept. 2021 | 1.9 |
| Oct.–Dec. 2021 | 1.8 |
| Jan.–Mar. 2022 | 1.8 |
| Apr.–June 2022 | 1.7 |
| July–Sept. 2022 | 1.6 |
| Oct.–Dec. 2022 | 1.6 |
| Jan.–Mar. 2023 | 1.6 |
Compounds & derived words
-
multiculturalism, n. 1957–The characteristics of a multicultural society; (also) the policy or process whereby the distinctive identities of the cultural groups within such a…
-
An advocate of cultural diversity; a person who promotes equal tolerance of all cultures within a society.
-
multicult, n. & adj. 1980–A Canadian immigrant of a European origin other than British, French, or Irish. Also: the policy or process by which the distinctive identities of…
-
multiculti, adj. & n. 1989–(a) = multiculturalism, n. (b) spec. A form of popular music incorporating disparate ethnic melodic or rhythmic styles, instrumentation, etc.
-
A variety of English spoken mainly by young people in the multicultural neighbourhoods of inner-city London; abbreviated MLE.
Entry history for multicultural, adj.
multicultural, adj. was revised in March 2003
multicultural, adj. was last modified in July 2023
oed.com is a living text, updated every three months. Modifications may include:
- further revisions to definitions, pronunciation, etymology, headwords, variant spellings, quotations, and dates;
- new senses, phrases, and quotations.
Revisions and additions of this kind were last incorporated into multicultural, adj. in July 2023.
Earlier versions of multicultural, adj. were published in:
A Supplement to the OED, Volume II (1976)
OED Second Edition (1989)
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Oxford English Dictionary, s.v. “,” , .
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Citation details
Factsheet for multicultural, adj.
Browse entry
Nearby entries
- multicorneal, adj.1883–
- multicostate, adj.1849–
- multi-country, adj.1950–
- multi-county, adj.1938–
- multi-course, adj.1903–
- multicropping, n.1965–
- multicrore, adj.1952–
- Multics, n.1965–
- multicult, n. & adj.1980–
- multiculti, adj. & n.1989–
- multicultural, adj.1935–
- multiculturalism, n.1957–
- multiculturalist, n. & adj.1979–
- Multicultural London English, n.2006–
- multiculturism, n.1975–
- multi-currency, adj.1965–
- multicursal, adj.1922–
- multicuspid, adj.1838–
- multicuspidate, adj.1841–
- multicycle, n. & adj.1887–
- multicyclic, adj.1951–
