Wiktionary

plural

See also: Plural and plurál

English

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English Wikipedia has an article on:
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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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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

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Adjective

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plural (comparative more plural, superlative most plural)

  1. Consisting of or containing more than one of something.
    Synonyms: manifold, multiple, morefold, several
    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!
  2. (grammar) In systems of number, not singular or not singular or dual.
    English nouns usually have singular and plural forms.
  3. (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
  4. (multiplicity, not comparable, of a person) Having some form of multiplicity, especially dissociative identity disorder.

Derived terms

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Translations

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Noun

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plural (plural plurals)

  1. (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."
  2. (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'.
    • 2021 April 25, John Malathronas, “Which languages are easiest – and most difficult – for native English speakers to learn?”, in CNN‎[1], archived from the original on 22 March 2022:
      Malay is the lingua franca of several Southeast Asia countries and has been simplified by its use as a second language by non-native speakers.
      For example, the Malay plural is formed by repeating a word twice – buku means book and buku-buku means books.
  3. (multiplicity, countable) A person with some form of multiplicity, particularly dissociative identity disorder.
    Synonyms: multiple, system
    • 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

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  • 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

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Translations

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See also

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Catalan

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Latin plūrālis.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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plural m or f (masculine and feminine plural plurals)

  1. plural
    Antonym: singular

Noun

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plural m (plural plurals)

  1. plural
    Antonym: singular

Derived terms

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Further reading

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French

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Etymology

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    Borrowed from Latin plūrālis.

    Pronunciation

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    Adjective

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    plural (feminine plurale, masculine plural pluraux, feminine plural plurales)

    1. plural, large
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    Further reading

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    Galician

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    Etymology

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    Etymology tree
    Proto-Indo-European *pleh₁-
    Proto-Indo-European *-yōs
    Proto-Indo-European *pléh₁yōs
    Proto-Italic *plēōs
    Old Latin plousder.
    Latin plūs
    Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-der.?
    Proto-Italic *-ālis
    Latin -ālis
    Latin plūrālislbor.
    Galician plural

      Learned borrowing from Latin plūrālis.

      Pronunciation

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      • IPA(key): /pluˈɾal/ [pluˈɾɑɫ]
      • Rhymes: -al
      • Hyphenation: plu‧ral

      Adjective

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      plural m or f (plural plurais)

      1. plural
        Antonym: singular

      Derived terms

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      Further reading

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      German

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      Etymology

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        Borrowed from Latin plūrālis.

        Pronunciation

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        Adjective

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        plural (strong nominative masculine singular pluraler, not comparable)

        1. pluralistic
          Synonym: pluralistisch

        Declension

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        Positive forms of plural (uncomparable)
        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

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        • “plural” in Duden online
        • “plural”, in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache‎[2] (in German)

        Indonesian

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        Etymology

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        Borrowed from Dutch pluraal (“plural”).

        Pronunciation

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        Adjective

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        plural (comparative lebih plural, superlative paling plural)

        1. plural (more than one)
          Synonyms: jamak, majemuk
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        Further reading

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        Maltese

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        Etymology

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        Etymology tree
        Proto-Indo-European *pleh₁-
        Proto-Indo-European *-yōs
        Proto-Indo-European *pléh₁yōs
        Proto-Italic *plēōs
        Old Latin plousder.
        Latin plūs
        Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-der.?
        Proto-Italic *-ālis
        Latin -ālis
        Latin plūrālisbor.
        Italian pluralebor.
        Maltese plural

          Borrowed from Italian plurale.

          Pronunciation

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          Noun

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          plural m (plural plurali)

          1. (grammar) plural
            plural sħiħ ― sound plural
            plural miksur ― broken plural
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          Middle English

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          Adjective

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          plural

          1. alternative form of plurelle

          Occitan

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          Etymology

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          Borrowed from Latin plūrālis.

          Pronunciation

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          Noun

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          plural m (plural plurals)

          1. plural

          Portuguese

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          Etymology

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          Etymology tree
          Proto-Indo-European *pleh₁-
          Proto-Indo-European *-yōs
          Proto-Indo-European *pléh₁yōs
          Proto-Italic *plēōs
          Old Latin plousder.
          Latin plūs
          Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-der.?
          Proto-Italic *-ālis
          Latin -ālis
          Latin plūrālislbor.
          Portuguese plural

            Learned borrowing from Latin plūrālis.

            Pronunciation

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            Adjective

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            plural m or f (plural plurais)

            1. plural (consisting of more than one things)
              Antonym: singular

            Noun

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            plural m (plural plurais)

            1. (grammar) plural (word referring to multiple things)
              Antonym: singular

            Derived terms

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            Further reading

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            Romanian

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            Alternative forms

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            Etymology

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            Borrowed from Latin pluralis.

            Pronunciation

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            • IPA(key): /pluˈral/
            • Rhymes: -al
            • Hyphenation: plu‧ral

            Noun

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            plural n (plural plurali)

            1. plural

            Declension

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            singular plural
            indefinite definite indefinite definite
            nominative-accusative plural pluralul plurali pluralile
            genitive-dative plural pluralului plurali pluralilor
            vocative pluralule pluralilor

            Serbo-Croatian

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            Etymology

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            Borrowed from Latin plūrālis.

            Pronunciation

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            • IPA(key): /plǔraːl/
            • Hyphenation: plu‧ral

            Noun

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            plùrāl m inan (Cyrillic spelling плу̀ра̄л)

            1. (uncountable) plural
              Synonym: množìna

            Declension

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            Declension of plural
            singular plural
            nominative plùrāl plurali
            genitive plurála plurala
            dative pluralu pluralima
            accusative plural plurale
            vocative plurale plurali
            locative pluralu pluralima
            instrumental pluralom pluralima

            Spanish

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            Etymology

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            Etymology tree
            Proto-Indo-European *pleh₁-
            Proto-Indo-European *-yōs
            Proto-Indo-European *pléh₁yōs
            Proto-Italic *plēōs
            Old Latin plousder.
            Latin plūs
            Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-der.?
            Proto-Italic *-ālis
            Latin -ālis
            Latin plūrālisbor.
            Spanish plural

              Borrowed from Latin plūrālis.

              Pronunciation

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              Adjective

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              plural m or f (masculine and feminine plural plurales)

              1. plural, multiple
                Antonym: singular

              Noun

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              plural m (plural plurales)

              1. (grammar) plural
                Antonym: singular

              Derived terms

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              Further reading

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