one-to-many
|one/to/many|
/wʌn tə ˈmɛni/
single source, multiple targets
Etymology
'one-to-many' originates from modern English composition of the words 'one', 'to', and 'many', used to express a directional relationship from a single item to multiple items.
'one' comes from Old English 'ān' (from Proto-Germanic '*ainaz'), 'many' from Old English 'manig' (from Proto-Germanic '*managaz'), and 'to' from Old English 'tō'; the hyphenated compound 'one-to-many' is a modern English technical formation that became common in 20th-century computing and data modeling.
Initially the component words simply denoted number and direction ('one' and 'many' connected by 'to'); over time the hyphenated phrase evolved into a fixed technical term denoting a specific type of relationship (especially in databases and modeling).
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
a relationship or mapping in which a single element (the 'one') is associated with multiple elements (the 'many'); often used in databases, data modeling, and mathematics to describe cardinality.
In the database schema, the customer–orders link is a one-to-many: one customer can have many orders.
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Adjective 1
describing a relationship or structure in which one item corresponds to multiple items (e.g., a one-to-many relationship).
They defined a one-to-many relationship between categories and products.
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Last updated: 2025/12/28 00:28