Etymologically
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plural

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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈplʊər(ə)l/, /ˈplɔːr(ə)l/[1]
  • US: /ˈplʊr(ə)l/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English plurel, also plural,[2][3][4] borrowed from Anglo-Norman plural, also plurel,[5] with its Old French counterpart plurel (“more than one”),[6][3][4][7] and directly borrowed from Latin plūrālis (“of or belonging to more than one”),[5][6][8] from plūs (“more”) and the suffix -ālis.[5][6][9] The Anglo-Norman word is recorded from 1171–74, for the plural form and as an adjective,[10] and in modern French it is pluriel.[6][4][7] The Latin adverb goes back, like full and Ancient Greek πολύς (polús, “much”), to Proto-Indo-European *plē- (“full”),[11] the root the American Heritage Dictionary lists as *pelə-.[12] It is related to plus, surplus, nonplus and pluperfect.[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

In grammar, of a form denoting more than one, as opposed to singular: Barnhart finds plurel about 1378, in Piers Plowman,[3] and the OED before 1387, in Trevisa's translation of Higden's Polychronicon.[5][6]

Semantic evolution

The word was at first grammatical, distinguishing the plural from the singular.[6][5] The noun, the plural number or a plural word, followed before 1398 in Trevisa's translation of Bartholomaeus Anglicus.[5][3][6] The general sense "more than one, multiple" is recorded from before 1538.[5] Johnson (1755) gave "implying more than one" first, with Shakespeare's "plural faith", and the grammatical sense second.[13] Specialised uses followed: of several church livings held by one person (before 1659, now chiefly historical), of an electoral system in which a voter may vote more than once (1839), and of a plural society made up of different ethnic or cultural groups (1939).[5] Semitic grammar has spoken since 1837 of the plural of excellence or plural of majesty, a plural noun naming one person.[5] In South Africa in 1978 plural was briefly used, often ironically, for a black South African, after the official name of the Department of Plural Relations.[5]

Timeline

  • c. 1378 – adjective, plurel, in grammar, in Piers Plowman.[3]
  • before 1387 – the grammatical sense in Trevisa.[5]
  • before 1398 – noun, the plural number, a plural form.[5][3]
  • before 1538 – more than one, multiple.[5]
  • before 1659 – of church livings held together by one person.[5]
  • 1755 – Johnson's definition, "implying more than one".[13]
  • 1837 – plural of excellence, in Semitic grammar.[5]
  • 1839 – of an electoral system allowing more than one vote.[5]
  • 1939 – of a society with several ethnic or cultural groups.[5]
  • 1978 – South African, a black South African.[5]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. In grammar, of a form of a noun, pronoun, verb or adjective, denoting more than one, or in languages with a dual, more than two: "Geese" is the plural form of "goose".[14][2][5]
  2. Made up of or involving more than one; multiple.[14][5]
  3. Of a society or state, made up of different ethnic or cultural groups.[14][5]

Noun

  1. In grammar, the plural number, or a word in the plural form: Some nouns have irregular plurals.[14][2][5]

Word family

  • plurally
  • pluralism
  • pluralist
  • plurality
  • pluralize
  • plural marriage

Usage notes

Etymonline quotes Jespersen's observation that some animal nouns, such as deer, sheep and swine, have an unchanged plural, as do many names of animals that are hunted, like snipe, salmon and trout, and some foreign animal names, like buffalo and giraffe.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  3. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  8. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  9. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  10. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  11. ^ a b Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
  12. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  13. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  14. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins