Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Relating to or composed of more than one member, set, or kind: the plural meanings of a text; a plural society.
- adj. Grammar Of or being a grammatical form that designates more than one of the things specified.
- n. Grammar The plural number or form.
- n. Grammar A word or term in the plural form.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Containing more than one; consisting of two or more, or designating two or more.
- Specifically In grammar, noting the form of a word (primarily of a noun or pronoun, then of an adjective qualifying it, and finally of a verb of which it is subject) which marks it as signifying or relating to more than one, as distinguished from singular, signifying only one; in some languages, which have a dual form for two, signifying more than two: thus, boys is the plural number of boy, men of man, we of I, these of this, are of is, and were of was.
- n. The state of being manifold or more than one.
- n. That form of a word which expresses plurality, or the plural number.
Wiktionary
- adj. More than one of something.
- n. : a word in the form in which it potentially refers to something other than one person or thing; and other than two things if the language has a dual form.
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. Relating to, or containing, more than one; designating two or more.
- n. The plural number; that form of a word which expresses or denotes more than one; a word in the plural form.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. grammatical number category referring to two or more items or units
- adj. composed of more than one member, set, or kind
- n. the form of a word that is used to denote more than one
Etymologies
- Middle English plurel, from Old French, from Latin plūrālis, from plūs, plūr-, more; see pelə-1 in Indo-European roots.
Examples
“Bagel (like fish, the plural is the same as the singular, and sometimes preceded by the word "the")”
“The folksy presentation using the plural is a nod-wink meant to suggest habitual behaviour, potential danger, hidden agenda/background, but there is no code or nexus or intimation or subtextual message whatsoever relating to violence.”
“It turns out, schlägen is the German word plural, I think for strike, hit or impact.”
“Actually, most strains of Mormonism to this day believe in plural marriage.”
“Where the words are singular, to make them plural is the mark of unlooked-for passion; and where they are plural, the rounding of a number of things into a fine-sounding singular is surprising owing to the converse change.”
“No one knows how many fundamentalist Mormons live like the Browns; scholars estimate between 30,000 and 50,000 people live in plural marriages, mainly in Utah and other Rocky Mountain states.”
The Huffington Post: 'Sister Wives' Features A Lot Of Wives But Little Faith
“The laws of most western countries state that a polygamous union is illegal and will prosecute against those who are in plural marriages, yet the practice persists.”
The Huffington Post: Kristen Houghton: Happiness Is ... Polygamy?
“Its plural is catachreses, its adjectival forms catachrestic and catachrestical.”
“Subtle distinctions sometimes accompany the verb, and might help you decide whether singular or plural is preferable.”
“Yes, I know the older plural is Stelae, but Steles is an acceptable English variant and I am still not a prescriptivist, and never will be.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘plural’.
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Language
word, sentence, novel, book, novella, vignette, memoir, anthology, paragraph, stanza, poem, haiku and 123 more...
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Words with a P in them
opalescent, apposite, kelp, culprit, corporeal, copper, impinge, impose, impetus, impassible, oppress, maple and 40 more...
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Beautiful words
Self-explanatory.
plural, melancholy, mother, euphemism, plea, violin, chaos, chasm, soliloquy, air, listen, liopleurodon and 23 more...
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