Plural
Pronunciation
- IPA: /ˈplʊəɹ.əl/
- Homophones: pleural
Alternative forms
- abbreviation, grammar: pl.
Origin
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.
Full definition of plural
Adjective
plural
- Consisting of or containing more than one of something.
- ShakespearePlural faith, which is too much by one.
- (comparable) Pluralistic.
- 1987, The Encyclopedia of religion, Although the nation was far more plural than Canada in the number of its Christian groups
- 2006, Suisheng Zhao, Debating political reform in China: rule of law vs. democratization, The Hong Kong and Singapore markets are way more "plural" than most Western economies, but they have not led to pluralistic politics.
- 2007, Lachelle Renee Hannickel, From cultural transgressions to literary transformations: ..., History is perhaps more plural than traditionally imagined, leaving room for more groups to express their story.
- 2009, Pille Valk, Teenagers' perspectives on the role of religion in their lives, ..., Generally the girls tend to perceive their social world as somewhat more plural than boys do. Several of these questions reveal that there are more boys (61%) than girls (39%) who 'do not know' about the religion of others
- 2011, Harald E. Braun, The Renaissance Conscience, Yet More's conscience was responding to a world just a little more plural than the world he was born in
Synonyms
Antonyms
Noun
plural
(plural plurals)- (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.
Usage notes
Many languages have singular and plural forms for one item or more than one item. Some have a singular form for one, dual form for two, trial form for three, paucal form for several, and plural for more than two (e.g., Arabic, Fijian).
While the plural form generally refers to two or more persons or things, that is not always the case. The plural form is often used for zero persons or things, for fractional things in a quantity greater than one, and for people or things when the quantity is unknown.
In English, the plural is most often formed simply by adding the letter "s" to the end of a noun, e.g. apple/apples. There are many exceptions, however, such as echo/echoes, mouse/mice, child/children, deer/deer (same word), etc.