A multiset is a set in which an item may appear more than once. That is, whereas duplicates are not permitted in a regular set, they are permitted in a multiset. Multisets are also known simply as bags .
Sets and multisets are in other respects quite similar: Both support operations to insert and withdraw items; both provide a means to test the membership of a given item; and both support the basic set operations of union, intersection, and difference. As a result, the Multiset interface is essentially the same as the Set interface as shown in Program .