many-to-many
|ma/ny/to/ma/ny|
/ˌmɛni tə ˈmɛni/
many ↔ many
Etymology
'many-to-many' originates from English, formed by combining the adjective 'many' and the preposition 'to' as a hyphenated compound to indicate a relation between two 'many' groups.
'many' comes from Old English 'manig' (meaning 'many, numerous') and developed into Middle English 'many'; the construction 'X-to-Y' as a hyphenated relational phrase (e.g., 'one-to-one', 'one-to-many') is a modern English formation that led to 'many-to-many'.
Initially, 'many' meant 'numerous'; over time the compound 'many-to-many' evolved as a technical relational term to mean 'multiple items on each side correspond to multiple items on the other side'.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
a relationship or mapping (often in databases, mathematics, or networks) in which each element in set A can relate to multiple elements in set B and vice versa — i.e., a many-to-many relationship.
In the schema, the students and courses are connected by a many-to-many via an enrollments table.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Adjective 1
describing a relation or mapping in which multiple elements on one side are associated with multiple elements on the other side.
We designed a many-to-many data model to allow students to enroll in multiple courses and courses to have multiple students.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Last updated: 2025/12/28 00:37