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Revision as of 21:36, 1 November 2005

Multiplex is either a word derived from multi- + plex (fold) or a synthetic portmanteau combining the words multiple and complex and can be another word for many or (literally) manifold.

It has several meanings:

1. A multiplex cinema, or movie theater, is a complex containing several separate auditoriums but sharing such facilities as the box office, refreshment stands, and washrooms. Canadian Nat Taylor is credited as the inventor of the multiplex when he added a second theatre to his Elgin Theatre in Ottawa. Taylor built ever larger multiplexes across Canada, his 18-screen theater in Toronto's Eaton Centre is often considered the first megaplex. A multiplex with 20 or more auditoriums is usually referred to as a megaplex.
2. Similarly, in television, specifically premium services such as HBO, the service may consist of a number of different multiplex channels provided for a single subscription fee.
3. In telecommunications, including broadcasting, multiplexing may alternatively refer to combining many signals (often thousands) into a single transmission circuit or channel.
4. In electronics a device that takes multiple inputs and combines them using time division is called a multiplexer. One concrete example of a multiplexer is the 74ALS157 'Quad 2- to 1-line data selector/multiplexer' integrated circuit. The verb for what this device does is 'to multiplex'. A device that does the reverse function of a multiplexer is called a demultiplexer.
5. Multiplex (wood) is a kind of wood substitute made from wood splinters glued into boards.
6. A multiplex (road) is a single physical road designated by two or more different highway numbers. If two highways are signed with opposite compass directions along the road, it is a wrong-way multiplex.
7. Multiplex (comics) was a DC Comics character.
8. Multiplex (webcomic) is a humor webcomic by Gordon McAlpin.
9. Multiplex (company) is Australia's third largest property developer.

• Disambiguation pages
• Portmanteaus