multitoken

Multitoken is a term used in several domains to describe systems or concepts that involve multiple tokens, rather than a single token. It can refer to tokenization approaches that treat multiword or multiunit expressions as single tokens, authentication schemes that rely on more than one token, or token standards designed to manage several token types within one framework.

In natural language processing, multitoken often describes tokens that correspond to multiple words or units. Examples include multiword expressions treated as single tokens, or subword units produced by algorithms such as Byte Pair Encoding or WordPiece. Multitoken representations can improve the capture of meaning but complicate alignment with surface text and downstream tasks.

In security and identity management, multitoken systems require more than one token for authentication, commonly as part of multifactor authentication. Tokens can be hardware devices, software apps, or one-time codes. Multitoken schemes improve security but may affect usability and continuity if tokens are lost or compromised.

In blockchain and smart contract platforms, multitoken sometimes refers to token standards that support multiple token types. The ERC-1155 standard, often called the Multi Token Standard, allows a single contract to manage both fungible and non-fungible tokens and to batch transfers efficiently. This reduces contract deployment and transaction costs but adds design complexity.

Because multitoken is used in different contexts, its precise meaning depends on the domain. The term generally signals a move away from single-token models toward systems that handle multiple token types or units.