plural
English
[edit]Alternative forms
[edit]- pl., pl (abbreviation)
Etymology
[edit]From Middle English plurelle, from Old French plurel (“plural”), Borrowed from Latin plūrālis (“of or belonging to more than one, belonging to many”, adjective), from plūs, plūris (“more”) + -ālis.
Pronunciation
[edit]- (Received Pronunciation) enPR: plo͝or'-rəl, plô'-rəl, IPA(key): /ˈplʊə.ɹəl/, /ˈplɔː.ɹəl/
- (General American) enPR: plo͝oər'-əl, plûr'-əl, IPA(key): /ˈplʊɚ.əl/, /ˈplɝ.əl/
- (Scotland, Northern Ireland) IPA(key): /ˈplʉːɹəl/
- (Ireland) IPA(key): /ˈpluːɹəl/
- Rhymes: -ʊəɹəl
Adjective
[edit]plural (comparative more plural, superlative most plural)
- Consisting of or containing more than one of something.
- The notion of culture is one whose meanings are plural and shifting.
- 1594, William Shakespeare, Two Gentlemen of Verona:
- Than plural faith which is too much by one: Thou counterfeit to thy true friend!
- (grammar) In systems of number, not singular or not singular or dual.
- English nouns usually have singular and plural forms.
- (comparable) Pluralistic.
- 1987, Mircea Eliade, Charles J. Adams, editors, The Encyclopedia of religion, volume 3:
- 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, page 29:
- 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: ..., page 195:
- 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, ..., page 281:
- 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 with Edward Vallance, The Renaissance Conscience, page 50:
- Yet More's conscience was responding to a world just a little more plural than the world he was born in
- (psychology, informal, not comparable, of a person) Having some form of multiplicity, especially dissociative identity disorder.
Synonyms
[edit]Derived terms
[edit]- additive plural
- associative plural
- broken plural
- cohort plural
- double plural
- first-person plural
- majestic plural
- plural marriage
- plural noun
- plural of modesty
- pluralphobia
- plural relations
- plural system
- plural wife
- second-person plural
- sound plural
- summation plural
- the plural of anecdote is not data
- third-person plural
Related terms
[edit]Translations
[edit]
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Noun
[edit]plural (plural plurals)
- (grammar, uncountable) The plural number. In English, referring to more or less than one of something.
- 1895, William W. Goodwin, A Greek Grammar. Revised and enlarged., page 34:
- "There are three numbers; the singular, the dual, and the plural. [...] The dual is sometimes used to denote two objects, but even here the plural is more common."
- (grammar, countable) 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.
- The plural of 'cat' is 'cats', but the plural of 'child' is 'children'.
- (psychology, informal, countable) A person with some form of multiplicity, particularly dissociative identity disorder.
- 2016, Lori F. Clarke, “Embracing Polyphony: Voices, Improvisation, and the Hearing Voices Network”, in Intersectionalities: A Global Journal of Social Work Analysis, Research, Polity, and Practice, volume 5, number 2, page 6:
- Singlet and monocultural identity is so normalized that many voice hearers and plurals don’t share their experiences with anyone, living in isolation (and sometimes in poverty) and spending considerable inner resources to manage postures and performances of ‘mental health’.
- 2020, Elizabeth Schechter, “What we can learn about respect and identity from plurals”, in JPCA Mag, number 1, page 38:
- More strongly, respect might require that singlets themselves accept, in the context of interacting with plurals, that people are truly distinct people.
- 2020, Tynan Drake, "Intersectional Representation: LGBTQ+ and neurodiverse voices in transmedia fiction", paper submitted to Ball State University, page 14:
- Autistics, plurals, and gender nonconforming individuals are all stigmatized as not being capable of understanding their own experiences and are repeatedly attacked with narratives intended to make them doubt their own emotions, memories, and sense of self.
- For more quotations using this term, see Citations:plural.
Usage notes
[edit]- Many languages have singular for one item and plural for more than one item. Some languages also have a dual form for two, a trial form for three, or a paucal form for several (e.g. Fijian). Other languages do not distinguish any of these categories.
- 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 that is not equal to one, and for people or things when the quantity is unknown.
Derived terms
[edit]Related terms
[edit]Translations
[edit]
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See also
[edit]- (grammatical numbers) grammatical number; singular, dual, trial, quadral, quintal, paucal, plural (Category: en:Grammar)
Catalan
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]Adjective
[edit]plural m or f (masculine and feminine plural plurals)
Noun
[edit]plural m (plural plurals)
Derived terms
[edit]Related terms
[edit]Further reading
[edit]- “plural” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
- “plural”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
- “plural” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
- “plural” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.
French
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]Adjective
[edit]plural (feminine plurale, masculine plural pluraux, feminine plural plurales)
Related terms
[edit]Further reading
[edit]- “plural”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Galician
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Learned borrowing from Latin plūrālis.
Pronunciation
[edit]Adjective
[edit]plural m or f (plural plurais)
Derived terms
[edit]Related terms
[edit]Further reading
[edit]- “plural”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, since 2012
German
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]Adjective
[edit]plural (strong nominative masculine singular pluraler, not comparable)
- pluralistic
- Synonym: pluralistisch
Declension
[edit]number & gender | singular | plural | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
masculine | feminine | neuter | |||
predicative | er ist plural | sie ist plural | es ist plural | sie sind plural | |
strong declension (without article) |
nominative | pluraler | plurale | plurales | plurale |
genitive | pluralen | pluraler | pluralen | pluraler | |
dative | pluralem | pluraler | pluralem | pluralen | |
accusative | pluralen | plurale | plurales | plurale | |
weak declension (with definite article) |
nominative | der plurale | die plurale | das plurale | die pluralen |
genitive | des pluralen | der pluralen | des pluralen | der pluralen | |
dative | dem pluralen | der pluralen | dem pluralen | den pluralen | |
accusative | den pluralen | die plurale | das plurale | die pluralen | |
mixed declension (with indefinite article) |
nominative | ein pluraler | eine plurale | ein plurales | (keine) pluralen |
genitive | eines pluralen | einer pluralen | eines pluralen | (keiner) pluralen | |
dative | einem pluralen | einer pluralen | einem pluralen | (keinen) pluralen | |
accusative | einen pluralen | eine plurale | ein plurales | (keine) pluralen |
References
[edit]Indonesian
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From English plural, 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. Compare to Afrikaans pluraal.
Pronunciation
[edit]Adjective
[edit]plural
Related terms
[edit]Further reading
[edit]- “plural” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.
Maltese
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Borrowed from Italian plurale.
Pronunciation
[edit]Noun
[edit]plural m (plural plurali)
Related terms
[edit]Middle English
[edit]Adjective
[edit]plural
- Alternative form of plurelle
Occitan
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]Noun
[edit]plural m (plural plurals)
Portuguese
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Learned borrowing from Latin plūrālis.
Pronunciation
[edit]
Adjective
[edit]plural m or f (plural plurais)
Noun
[edit]plural m (plural plurais)
Derived terms
[edit]Related terms
[edit]Further reading
[edit]- “plural”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2024
Romanian
[edit]Alternative forms
[edit]- плурал (plural) — post-1930s Cyrillic spelling
Etymology
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]Noun
[edit]plural n (plural plurali)
Declension
[edit]singular | plural | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
indefinite articulation | definite articulation | indefinite articulation | definite articulation | |
nominative/accusative | (un) plural | pluralul | (niște) plurali | pluralile |
genitive/dative | (unui) plural | pluralului | (unor) plurali | pluralilor |
vocative | pluralule | pluralilor |
Serbo-Croatian
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]Noun
[edit]plùrāl m (Cyrillic spelling плу̀ра̄л)
- (uncountable) plural
- Synonym: množìna
Declension
[edit]Spanish
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]Adjective
[edit]plural m or f (masculine and feminine plural plurales)
Noun
[edit]plural m (plural plurales)
Derived terms
[edit]Related terms
[edit]Further reading
[edit]- “plural”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *pleh₁-
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Old French
- English terms borrowed from Latin
- English terms derived from Latin
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English 3-syllable words
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/ʊəɹəl
- Rhymes:English/ʊəɹəl/2 syllables
- English lemmas
- English adjectives
- English terms with usage examples
- English terms with quotations
- en:Grammar
- en:Psychology
- English informal terms
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English uncountable nouns
- en:Multiplicity (psychology)
- Catalan terms borrowed from Latin
- Catalan terms derived from Latin
- Catalan terms with IPA pronunciation
- Catalan terms with audio links
- Catalan lemmas
- Catalan adjectives
- Catalan epicene adjectives
- Catalan nouns
- Catalan countable nouns
- Catalan masculine nouns
- ca:Grammar
- French terms borrowed from Latin
- French terms derived from Latin
- French 2-syllable words
- French terms with IPA pronunciation
- French terms with audio links
- French lemmas
- French adjectives
- Galician terms borrowed from Latin
- Galician learned borrowings from Latin
- Galician terms derived from Latin
- Galician terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:Galician/al
- Rhymes:Galician/al/2 syllables
- Galician lemmas
- Galician adjectives
- gl:Grammar
- German terms borrowed from Latin
- German terms derived from Latin
- German 2-syllable words
- German terms with IPA pronunciation
- German lemmas
- German adjectives
- German uncomparable adjectives
- Indonesian terms borrowed from English
- Indonesian terms derived from English
- Indonesian terms derived from Middle English
- Indonesian terms derived from Old French
- Indonesian terms derived from Latin
- Indonesian terms with IPA pronunciation
- Indonesian lemmas
- Indonesian adjectives
- Maltese terms borrowed from Italian
- Maltese terms derived from Italian
- Maltese 2-syllable words
- Maltese terms with IPA pronunciation
- Maltese lemmas
- Maltese nouns
- Maltese masculine nouns
- mt:Grammar
- Maltese terms with collocations
- Middle English lemmas
- Middle English adjectives
- Occitan terms borrowed from Latin
- Occitan terms derived from Latin
- Occitan terms with audio links
- Occitan lemmas
- Occitan nouns
- Occitan masculine nouns
- Occitan countable nouns
- Portuguese terms borrowed from Latin
- Portuguese learned borrowings from Latin
- Portuguese terms derived from Latin
- Portuguese 2-syllable words
- Portuguese terms with IPA pronunciation
- Portuguese 3-syllable words
- Rhymes:Portuguese/al
- Rhymes:Portuguese/al/2 syllables
- Rhymes:Portuguese/aw
- Rhymes:Portuguese/aw/2 syllables
- Portuguese lemmas
- Portuguese adjectives
- Portuguese nouns
- Portuguese countable nouns
- Portuguese masculine nouns
- pt:Grammar
- Romanian terms borrowed from Latin
- Romanian terms derived from Latin
- Romanian terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:Romanian/al
- Rhymes:Romanian/al/2 syllables
- Romanian lemmas
- Romanian nouns
- Romanian countable nouns
- Romanian neuter nouns
- Serbo-Croatian terms borrowed from Latin
- Serbo-Croatian terms derived from Latin
- Serbo-Croatian terms with IPA pronunciation
- Serbo-Croatian lemmas
- Serbo-Croatian nouns
- Serbo-Croatian masculine nouns
- Serbo-Croatian uncountable nouns
- Spanish terms borrowed from Latin
- Spanish terms derived from Latin
- Spanish 2-syllable words
- Spanish terms with IPA pronunciation
- Spanish terms with audio links
- Rhymes:Spanish/al
- Rhymes:Spanish/al/2 syllables
- Spanish lemmas
- Spanish adjectives
- Spanish epicene adjectives
- Spanish nouns
- Spanish countable nouns
- Spanish masculine nouns
- es:Grammar