Plain English Meaning

Built with more than one compression step, where air is squeezed once, then squeezed again, and sometimes again, to pack more of it into the engine.

Full Definition

Describing a device, typically a supercharger or turbocharger, that compresses induction air in two or more sequential steps, with each stage feeding the next to achieve a higher overall pressure than a single stage could produce.

Context Anchor

Seen in discussions of superchargers and induction systems, especially where an engine is designed to maintain power as altitude increases.

Derivation

From 'multi-' (Latin multus, meaning many) and 'stage' (a step or level in a process). In an , each 'stage' is one compression step, so 'multistage' simply means 'multiple compression steps in series.'