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 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 word which expresses plurality, or the plural number.
Wiktionary
- adj. Consisting of or containing more than one of something.
- adj. comparable Pluralistic.
- n. grammar : 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. (Gram.) The plural number; that form of word which expresses or denotes more than one; a word in the plural form.
WordNet 3.0
Etymologies
- From Middle English plurelle, from Old French plurel ("plural"), from Latin pluralis ("of or belonging to more than one, belonging to many", adjective), from plus, pluris ("more") + -alis. (Wiktionary)
- Middle English plurel, from Old French, from Latin plūrālis, from plūs, plūr-, more. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
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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INTERP - sexist language
Problematic and recommended terms according to the EP's guide on gender neutral language use
gender-neutral la..., biased, discriminatory, demeaning, political correct..., gender equality, gender neutrality, sexist language, masculine gender, inclusive form, generic form, discriminate agai... and 103 more...
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EU Buzz - Lisbon Treaty
All words of the Lisbon Treaty
(Persons' names, foreign and grammatical words have been eliminated, MWEs have been split up into individual words. Capitalization has been retained if r...conferral, stateless, person, voting, right, subsidiarity, Latvia, Malta, Slovenia, Lithuania, Finland, Estonia and 2614 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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Shadowkeir's list
This list, the one shown below this very message, is a collection of words that you cannot begin to fathom how much I adore. The list will also feature atithesis and contrasting words such as the t...
wishful, anticlimactic, forte, monchromatic, septic, wonderous, isoclinal, deformed, disintergrate, favourite, laughable, awe-inspiring and 250 more...
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Junk
walrus, fascination, broadway, fickle, downturn, bridge, gargle, rotunda, mesh, fab, shortlife, strumming and 304 more...
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aliko's Words
deli, turkey, bodrum, deniz, sunny, seks, tatil, hava, zeeman, captain, kapitein, kaptan and 256 more...
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nuwerdna's Words
smegma, defenestration, nubile, zeitgeist, stochastic, ergodic, stability, maudlin, recursion, aversion, agent, set and 239 more...
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Words about words
Most of these describe word patterns or relationships between words.
panvocalic, palindrome, anagram, transposition, antigram, reversal, isogram, alternade, trinade, beheadment, decapitation, apheresis and 149 more...
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English grammar
terms relevant to English grammar
phrase, clause, sentence, complement, modifier, adjunct, specifier, constituent, syntax, bar level, supplement, coordination and 285 more...
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Polymorphously Pretentious Patois
epicurean, hermitage, virago, aplomb, riposte, undulate, calliope, terpsichore, polyphonic, quixotic, sanguine, chimera and 81 more...
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Complicated words for not-so-complica...
dyslexia, plural, onomatopoeia, idiom, palindrome, rhetoric, locution, shenanigan, translucency, cacaphony, peninsula, amnesia and 9 more...
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Academic Writing 3
For students of sentence structure
substantive, verb, verbal, pronoun, noun, perfect, participle, preposition, modifier, adjective, adverb, connector and 18 more...
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words about words
palindrome, syllable, vowel, consonant, alphabet, vocabulary, etymology, Synonym, antonym, anagram, verb, noun and 39 more...
Tweets
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