plurality

n., pl., -ties.

1. The state or fact of being plural.
2. A large number or amount; a multitude.
3. Ecclesiastical.
   1. Pluralism.
   2. The offices or benefices held by a pluralist.
4. 1. In a contest of more than two choices, the number of votes cast for the winning choice if this number is not more than one half of the total votes cast.
   2. The number by which the vote of the winning choice in such a contest exceeds that of the closest opponent.
5. The larger or greater part.

n

Definition: large part of a group
Antonyms: minority

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In a multi-candidate election in which no candidate has obtained as much as half of the vote, the largest single total of votes for any candidate. A plurality (or first-past-the-post) electoral system is one which selects such a candidate as the winner.

This entry contains information applicable to United States law only.

The opinion of an appellate court in which more justices join than in any concurring opinion.

The excess of votes cast for one candidate over those votes cast for any other candidate.

Appellate panels are made up of three or more justices. In some cases the justices disagree over the outcome of the case to such an extent that a majority opinion cannot be achieved. (A majority opinion is one in which the number of justices who join is larger than the number of justices who do not.) To resolve such disagreements and reach a final decision, two or more justices publish opinions called concurring opinions, and the other justices decide which of these concurring opinions they will join. The concurring opinion in which more justices join than any other is called a plurality opinion. Plurality decisions can reflect a disagreement among the justices over a legal issue in a case or can reveal deeper ideological differences among the members of the court.

The term plurality is also used to describe the outcome of an election that involves more than two candidates. The candidate who receives the greatest number of votes is said to have received a plurality of the votes. In contrast, the term majority is used to describe the outcome of an election involving only two candidates; the winner is said to have received a majority of the votes.

A candidate who has a plurality of the votes can also have a majority of the votes, but only if she receives a number of votes greater than that cast for all the other candidates combined. Mathematically, a candidate with a plurality has a majority if she receives more than one-half of the total number of votes cast. If candidate John Doe has a plurality, he has earned more votes than any other candidate, but whether he has a majority depends on how many votes he won.

See: court opinion.

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

Dansk (Danish)
n. - flerhed, flertal, stort antal

Nederlands (Dutch)
pluraliteit, veelvoud, meerderheid

Français (French)
n. - pluralité, (gén) majorité, (US, Pol) majorité relative

Deutsch (German)
n. - Pluralität, Vielzahl, Stimmenvorsprung

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - πολλαπλότητα, (ΗΠΑ) σχετική πλειοψηφία

Italiano (Italian)
pluralità

Português (Portuguese)
n. - pluralidade (f), multiplicidade (f)

Русский (Russian)
множественность

Español (Spanish)
n. - pluralidad

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - mångfald, flertal

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
复数, 多数, 较大数

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 複數, 多數, 較大數

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 복수, 대다수

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 多数, 相対多数, 複数性, 複数, 数職兼任, 兼職, 得票差, 大多数

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) تعدد, اغلبيه, تولي المرء وظيفتين او اكثر في وقت واحد‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮רוב, ריבוי, כהונה במשרות רבות, רוב קולות, תפקיד נוסף‬

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