different between multifunction vs glitch

English

Etymology

multi- +? function

Adjective

multifunction (not comparable)

1. Having multiple functions.

Noun

multifunction (plural multifunctions)

1. (mathematics) A multivalued function.

English

Etymology

Probably from Yiddish ?????? (glitsh), from German glitschig (“slippy”), from glitsch (“slide, glide, slip”) + -ig (“-y”). Related to gleiten (“glide”). Cognate with French glisser (“to slip, to slide, to skid”).

Popularized 1960s, by US space program. Attested 1962 by American astronaut John Glenn, in reference to spikes in electrical current.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?l?t?/
• Rhymes: -?t?

Noun

glitch (countable and uncountable, plural glitches)

1. (countable) A problem affecting function.

   Synonyms: bug, hitch, imperfection, quirk, gremlin

2. (countable, informal, engineering) An unexpected behavior in an electrical signal, especially if the signal spontaneously returns to expected behavior after a period of time.

   Coordinate terms: surge, spike, instability
3. (video games) A bug or an exploit.

4. (uncountable, music) A genre of experimental electronic music since the 1990s, characterized by a deliberate use of sonic artifacts that would normally be viewed as unwanted noise.

   Hypernym: electronic music

   Hyponym: glitchcore

   Coordinate term: noise

   • 2011, Simon Reynolds, Bring the Noise: 20 Years of Writing About Hip Rock and Hip Hop, Soft Skull Press (?ISBN), page 313:

     You can hear this in the contemporary genre of ‘glitch’, where artists like Oval and Fennesz make radically beautiful music using the snaps, crackles and pops emitted by damaged CDs, malfunctioning software, etc.

5. (astronomy, countable) A sudden increase in the rotational frequency of a pulsar.

Derived terms

• glitchcore
• glitchy

Translations

Verb

glitch (third-person singular simple present glitches, present participle glitching, simple past and past participle glitched)

1. (intransitive, especially of machines) To experience an unexpected, typically intermittent malfunction.
2. (intransitive, video games) To perform an exploit or recreate a bug while playing a video game.

Further reading

• glitch on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• glitch (music) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

References