TITLE: Interpretation of multiplicity of a point 
QUESTION [12 upvotes]: Let $x$ be a (closed) point on an algebraic variety $X$ (of dimension $n$) defined over an algebraically closed field $k$. What is the multiplicity $mult_x(X)$, and how to compute it?
While having a hard time recently to compute the multiplicity of some surface singularities, I thought it might be useful to have a list of equivalent definitions. These are the ones I know of:
Notations: let $m_x$ be the maximal ideal of $x$ at $X$. For definitions 1 to 3 below assume (a neighborhood of $x$ in) $X$ is embedded in a projective space $\mathbb{P}^N(\mathbb{k})$. 
Geometric Definitions:

(Copying from Mumford, Algebraic Geometry I: This is valid only in the case $k = \mathbb{C}$.) For every linear subspace $L$ of dimension $N - n$ such that $x$ is a component of $L \cap X$, define a number $i(x;L \cap X)$ as follows: it is the unique number such that for every sufficiently small neighborhood $U$ of $x$ (in the classical topology), there is a neighborhood $U'$ of $L$ (in the space of $N-n$ dimensional linear subspaces of $\mathbb{P}^N(\mathbb{C})$) such that if $L' \in U'$ and $L'$ intersects $X$ transversally, then $i(x;L \cap X) = |L' \cap X \cap U|$. Then $mult_x(X)$ is the minimum of $i(x;L \cap X)$ as $L$ runs over all $N-n$ dimensional linear subspaces of $\mathbb{P}^N(\mathbb{C})$ for which $x$ is an isolated point of $L \cap X$.
(Corollary of (1), but holds also over positive characteristic - or at least so I think. For my problem this turned out to be the right definition to use) For every linear subspace $L$ of dimension $N - n$ such that $L \cap X$ is discrete, let $s(x;L \cap X)$ be the number of points of intersection (counted with intersection multiplicity) of $L \cap X$ other than $x$. Then $mult_x(X) = \min\lbrace  \deg(X) - s(x;L \cap X)\rbrace$ as $L$ runs over all $N-n$ dimensional linear subspaces of $\mathbb{P}^N(k)$ for which $L \cap X$ is discrete. 
(From Ramanujam's "On a geometric interpretation of multiplicity") Take a proper birational map $\phi: Y \to X$ such that the pull back of the maximal ideal of $P$ defines an effective Cartier divisor $D$ on $Y$. Then $mult_x(X) = (-1)^{n-1}D^n$.

Algebraic Definitions:

$mult_x(X)$ is $(n-1)!$ times the leading coefficient of the Hilbert–Samuel polynomial of $m_x$.
If $X$ is a hypersurface in a neighbourhood of $x$ defined by a single equation $f$, then $mult_x(X)$ is the integer $q$ such that $f \in m_x^q \setminus m_x^{q+1}$.

What other definitions are out there?

REPLY [3 votes]: Here is another equivalence: Let $\pi\colon Z\to \mathbb{P}^n$ be the blow-up of the point $x$, let $E\simeq \mathbb{P}^{n-1}$ be the exceptional divisor and let $\tilde{X}\subset X$ be the strict transform of $X$. Then, the intersection of $\tilde{X}$ with $E$ is a variety of degree $\mathrm{mult}_x(X)$ in $E\simeq \mathbb{P}^{n-1}$.
In the case where $X$ is a curve, you obtain finitely many points and the multiplicity is then just the number of points (that you need to count with multiplicity).