In mathematics, a multiset is a modification of the concept of a set that, unlike a set, allows for multiple instances for each of its elements. The number of instances given for each element is called the multiplicity of that element in the multiset. As a consequence, an infinite number of multisets exist that contain only elements a and b, but vary in the multiplicities of their elements:The set {a, b} contains only elements a and b, each having multiplicity 1 when {a, b} is seen as a multiset. In the multiset {a, a, b}, the element a has multiplicity 2, and b has multiplicity 1. In the multiset {a, a, a, b, b, b}, a and b both have multiplicity 3.