plural
pronunciation
How to pronounce plural in British English:
UK [ˈplʊərəl]
How to pronounce plural in American English:
US [ˈplʊrəl]
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- Noun:
- the form of a word that is used to denote more than one
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- Adjective:
- grammatical number category referring to two or more items or units
Word Origin
- plural
- plural: [14] Plural is one of a range of English words that go back ultimately to Latin plūs ‘more’, a descendant (like English full and Greek pólus ‘much’, source of the English prefix poly-) of the Indo-European base *plē- ‘full’. This was borrowed into English directly as plus [17], in the sense ‘with the addition of’. Plural comes via Old French plurel from the Latin derivative plūrālis ‘more than one’.Other related words in English include nonplus [16] (etymologically ‘put in a position where “no more” – Latin nōn plūs – can be done’); pluperfect [16] (a lexicalization of the Latin phrase plūs quam perfectum ‘more than perfect’); and surplus.=> nonplus, pluperfect, plus, surplus
- plural (adj.)
- late 14c., from Old French plurel "more than one" (12c., Modern French pluriel), from Latin pluralis "of or belonging to more than one," from plus (genitive pluris) "more" (see plus). The noun meaning "a plural number" is from late 14c.
Antonym
Example
- 1. Depending on whether the word is masculine , feminine or plural .
- 2. Nor does the supreme leader 's largesse extend to allowing a more plural society .
- 3. Geisha , like all japanese nouns , has no distinct singular or plural variants .
- 4. Its syntax was only partially dependent on word order and has a simple two tense , three mood , four person ( three singular , one plural ) verb system .
- 5. Significantly , the german word for debt , schulden , is the plural of schuld , meaning guilt or fault .