- pluralism
- 1818, as a term in church administration, from plural (q.v.) + -ism. Attested from 1882 as a term in philosophy for a theory which recognizes more than one ultimate principle. In political science, attested from 1919 (in Harold J. Laski) in sense "theory which opposes monolithic state power." Gen. sense of "toleration of diversity within a society or state" is from 1933.
- plural
- late 14c., from O.Fr. plurel "more than one" (12c.), from L. pluralis "of or belonging to more than one," from plus (gen. pluris) "more" (see plus).
- child
- O.E. cild "child," from P.Gmc. *kiltham (source of Gothic kilşei "womb"), unrelated to other languages. Also in O.E. meaning "a youth of gentle birth" (archaic, usually written childe). In 16c., especially "girl child." The difficulty with the plural began in O.E., where the nom. pl. was at first cild, identical with the sing., then c.975 pl. form cildru (gen. cildra) arose, only to be re-pluraled c.1175 as children, which is thus a double plural. M.E. plural cildre survives in Lancashire dialect childer and in Childermas (c.1000) "festival of the Holy Innocents" (Dec. 28).
- areolas
- nativized plural of areola (q.v.), which has its proper plural in areolae (see -ae).
- alumnus
- 1640s, from L. "a pupil," lit. "foster son," vestigial present passive participle of alere "to nourish" (see old), with ending akin to Gk. -omenos. Plural is alumni. Fem. is alumna (1882), fem. plural alumnae.
- octopus
- 1758, genus name of a type of eight-armed cephalopod mollusks, from Gk. oktopous "eight-footed," from okto "eight" (see eight) + pous "foot." Proper plural is octopodes, though octopuses probably works better in English. Octopi is from mistaken assumption that -us is the L. noun ending that takes -i in plural.
- this
- O.E. şis, neuter demonstrative pronoun and adj. (masc. şes, fem. şeos), probably from a North Sea Gmc. pronoun formed by combining the base *şa- (see that) with -s, which is probably identical with O.E. se "the" (representing here "a specific thing"), but it may be O.E. seo, imperative of see (v.) "to behold." Cf. O.S. these, O.N. şessi, Du. deze, O.Fris. this, O.H.G. deser, Ger. dieser. Once fully inflected, with 10 distinct forms (see table below); the oblique cases and other genders gradually fell away by 15c. The O.E. plural was şæs (nom. and acc.), which in Northern M.E. became thas, and in Midlands and Southern England became thos. The Southern form began to be used late 13c. as the plural of that (replacing M.E. tho, from O.E. şa) and acquired an -e (apparently from the influence of M.E. adj. plurals in -e; cf. alle from all, summe from sum "some"), emerging early 14c. as modern those. About 1175 thes (probably a variant of O.E. şæs) began to be used as the plural of this, and by 1200 it had taken the form these, the final -e acquired via the same mechanism that gave one to those.
Masc. Fem. Neut. Plural Nom. şes şeos şis şas Acc. şisne şas şis şas Gen. şisses şisse şisses şissa Dat. şissum şisse şissum şissum Inst. şys şisse şys şissum - dice
- early 14c., des, dys, plural of dy (see die (n.)), altered 14c. to dyse, dyce, and 15c. to dice. "As in pence, the plural s retains its original breath sound, probably because these words were not felt as ordinary plurals, but as collective words" [OED]. Sometimes used as singular 1400-1700. The verb "to cut into cubes" is first recorded late 14c. Dicey "doubtful, difficult" is RAF slang from the 1940s.
- kine
- archaic plural of "cow," actually a double plural (cf. children) or a gen. pl. of M.E. kye "cows," from O.E. cy, pl. of cu "cow."
- tweezers
- 1654, extended from tweezes, plural of tweeze "case for tweezers" (1622), aphetic of etweese, considered as plural of etwee (1611) "a small case," from Fr. étui "small case," originally "a keeping safe," from O.Fr. estuier "to keep, shut up, imprison," of uncertain origin. Sense transf. from the case to the implement inside it. The verb tweeze "to pluck with tweezers" is a 1932 back-formation.
- triumvir
- "one of three men in the same office or of the same authority," 1579, from L. triumvir, from Old L. phrase trium virum, genitive plural of tres viri "three men," from tres "three" + viri, plural of vir "man" (see virile). Triumvirate is from 1584.
- -'s
- suffix forming the possessive case of most Mod.Eng. nouns, was gradually extended in M.E. from O.E. -es, the most common genitive inflection of masc. and neut. nouns (cf. dæg "day," gen. dæges "day's"). But O.E. also had genitives in -e, -re, -an as well as "mutation-genitives" (cf. boc "book," plural bec), and the -es form was never used in plural (where -a, -ra, -na prevailed), thus avoiding the ambiguity of words like kings'. As a suffix forming some adverbs, it represents the gen. sing. ending of O.E. masc. and neuter nouns and some adjectives.
- news
- 1382, plural of new (n.) "new thing," from new (adj.), q.v.; after Fr. nouvelles, used in Bible translations to render M.L. nova (neut. pl.) "news," lit. "new things." Sometimes still regarded as plural, 17c.-19c. Meaning "tidings" is 1423; newspaper is first attested 1670, though the thing itself is much older. Newsreel was first recorded 1916; newscast is from 1930. Newsletter is attested from 1674, but fell from use until it was revived 20c. Newsworthy first attested 1932. The News in the Virginia city Newport News is said to derive from the name of one of its founders, William Newce.
- eye
- O.E. ege (Mercian), eage (W. Saxon), from P.Gmc. *augon, from PIE *oqw- "to see" (cf. Skt. akshi "the eye, the number two," Gk. opsis "a sight," Goth. augo, O.C.S. oko, Lith. akis, L. oculus, Armenian aku). Until late 14c. the plural was in -an, hence modern dial. plural een, ene. The verb is first recorded 1560s. The eye of a needle was in O.E.; to see eye to eye is from Isa. lii.8; eyewitness is from 1530s. Eyebrow is from 1580s (O.E. eagbræw meant "eyelid"); eyelash from 1752; eyelid first attested mid-13c. Eye-opener "anything that informs and enlightens" is from 1863. Have an eye on "keep under supervision" is attested from early 15c.
- -acea
- suffix denoting orders and classes in zoology, from L. -acea, neut. pl. of -aceus "belonging to, of the nature of" (enlarged from adj. suffix -ax, gen. -acis); neut. pl. because of a presumed animalia, a neuter plural noun. Thus, crustacea "shellfish" are *crustacea animalia "crusty animals." In botany, the suffix is -aceae, from the fem. pl. of -aceus, with reference to L. plantae, which is a fem. plural.
- -s (1)
- suffix forming almost all Mod.Eng. plural nouns, was gradually extended in M.E. from O.E. -as, the nom. plural and acc. plural ending of certain "strong" masc. nouns (cf. dæg "day," nom./acc. pl. dagas "days"). The commonest Gmc. declension, traceable back to the original PIE inflection system, it is also the source of the Du. -s plurals and (by rhotacism) Scand. -r plurals (e.g. Swed. dagar). Much more uniform today than originally; O.E. also had a numerous category of "weak" nouns that formed their plurals in -an, and other strong nouns that formed plurals with -u. Quirk and Wrenn, in their O.E. grammar, estimate that 45 percent of the nouns a student will encounter will be masc., nearly four-fifths of them with gen. sing. -es and nom./acc. pl. in -as. Less than half, but still the largest chunk. The triumphs of -'s possessives and -s plurals represent common patterns in language: using only a handful of suffixes to do many jobs (cf. -ing), and the most common variant squeezing out the competition. To further muddy the waters, it's been extended in slang since 1936 to singulars (e.g. ducks, sweets, babes) as an affectionate or dim. suffix. O.E. single-syllable collectives (sheep, folk) as well as weights, measures, and units of time did not use -s. The use of it in these cases began in M.E., but the older custom is preserved in many traditional dialects (ten pound of butter; more than seven year ago).
- both
- There are several theories, all similar, and deriving the word from the tendency to say "both the." One is that it is O.E. begen (masc.) "both" (from P.Gmc. *ba, from PIE *bho "both") + -ş extended base. Another traces it to the P.Gmc. formula represented in O.E. by ba şa "both these," from ba (feminine nominative and accusative of begen) + şa, nominative and accusative plural of se "that." A third traces it to O.N. bağir "both," from *bai thaiz "both the," from P.Gmc. *thaiz, third person plural pronoun.
- barracks
- plural, and usual, form of barrack (q.v.).
- strata
- c.1700, plural of stratum.
- appendices
- proper L. plural of appendix (q.v.).
- criteria
- 1620s, plural of criterion (q.v.).
- delicacies
- "things dainty and gratifying to the palate," mid-15c., from plural of delicacy.
- teens
- 1673 (plural), formed from -teen, taken as a separate word.
- shay
- 1717, back-formation from chaise (q.v.) mistaken as a plural.
- children
- plural of child (q.v.)
- feet
- plural of foot (q.v.).
- teeth
- plural of tooth (q.v.).
- women
- plural of woman (q.v.).
- foci
- plural of focus (q.v.).
- feelings
- "tender or sensitive side of one's nature," 1771, from plural of feeling.
- tooth
- O.E. toğ (plural teğ), from P.Gmc. *tanth, *tunth (cf. O.S., Dan., Swed., Du. tand, O.N. tönn, O.Fris. toth, O.H.G. zand, Ger. Zahn, Goth. tunşus), from PIE *dont-/*dent- "tooth" (cf. Skt. danta, Gk. odontos, L. dens, Lith. dantis, O.Ir. det, Welsh dent). Plural form teeth is an instance of i-mutation. Application to tooth-like parts of other objects (saws, combs, etc.) first recorded 1520s. Toothache is attested from late 14c. Toothbrush is first recorded 1650s; toothpaste first attested 1832; toothpick is from late 15c. Toothsome "pleasant to the taste" is c.1565; the fig. sense of "attractive" (1550s) is a bit older.
- thou
- 2nd nominative singular personal pronoun, O.E. şu, from P.Gmc. *thu (cf. O.Fris. thu, M.Du., M.L.G. du, O.H.G., Ger. du, O.N. şu, Goth. şu), from PIE *tu-, second person singular pronoun (cf. L. tu, Ir. tu, Welsh ti, Gk. su, Lith. tu, O.C.S. ty, Skt. twa-m). Superseded in M.E. by plural form you (from a different root), but retained in certain dialects (e.g. Philadelphia Quakers). The plural at first was used in addressing superior individuals, later also (to err on the side of propriety) strangers, and ultimately all equals. By c.1450 the use of thou to address inferiors gave it a tinge of insult unless addressed by parents to children, or intimates to one another. Hence the verb meaning "to use 'thou' to a person" (c.1440).
"Avaunt, caitiff, dost thou thou me! I am come of good kin, I tell thee!" ["Hickscorner," c.1530]
A brief history of the second person pronoun in Eng. can be found here. - condolences
- "formal declaration of sympathy," 1670s, pl. of condolence. Reason for the plural is unclear; earliest references are to expressions from groups of persons; perhaps the habit stuck.
- cheval de frise
- 1688, from Fr., lit. "horse of Frisia," because it was first employed there as a defense against cavalry. Plural chevaux de frise.
- am
- O.E. eom "to remain," (Mercian eam, Northumbrian am), from PIE *esmi- (cf. O.N. emi, Goth. im, Hittite esmi, O.C.S. jesmi, Lith. esmi), from base *es-, *s-, the S-ROOT, which also yielded Gk. esti-, L. est, Skt. as-, and Ger. ist. In O.E. it existed only in present tense, all other forms being expressed in the W-BASE (see were, was). This cooperative verb is sometimes referred to by linguists as *es-*wes-. Until the distinction broke down 13c., *es-*wes- tended to express "existence," with beon meaning something closer to "come to be" (see be). O.E. am had two plural forms: 1. sind/sindon, sie and 2. earon/aron The s- form (also used in the subjunctive) fell from use in the early 13c. (though it continues in Ger. sind, the 3rd person plural of "to be") and was replaced by forms of be, but aron (aren, arn, are, from P.Gmc. *ar-, probably a variant of PIE base *es-) continued, and as am and be merged it encroached on some uses that previously had belonged to be. By the early 1500s it had established its place in standard Eng. Art became archaic in the 1800s.
- be
- O.E. beon, beom, bion "be, exist, come to be, become," from P.Gmc. *beo-, *beu-. This "b-root" is from PIE base *bheu-, *bhu- "grow, come into being, become," and in addition to the words in English it yielded German present first and second person sing. (bin, bist, from O.H.G. bim "I am," bist "thou art"), L. perf. tenses of esse (fui "I was," etc.), O.C.S. byti "be," Gk. phu- "become," O.Ir. bi'u "I am," Lith. bu'ti "to be," Rus. byt' "to be," etc. It also is behind Skt. bhavah "becoming," bhavati "becomes, happens," bhumih "earth, world."
The modern verb in its entirety represents the merger of two once-distinct verbs, the "b-root" represented by be and the am/was verb, which was itself a conglomerate. Roger Lass ("Old English") describes the verb as "a collection of semantically related paradigm fragments," while Weekley calls it "an accidental conglomeration from the different Old English dial[ect]s." It is the most irregular verb in Mod.E. and the most common. Collective in all Germanic languages, it has eight different forms in Modern English:
BE (infinitive, subjunctive, imperative)
AM (present 1st person singular)
ARE (present 2nd person singular and all plural)
IS (present 3rd person singular)
WAS (past 1st and 3rd persons singular)
WERE (past 2nd person singular, all plural; subjunctive)
BEING (progressive & present participle; gerund)
BEEN (perfect participle).
The paradigm in O.E. was:SING. PL. 1st pres. ic eom
ic beowe sind(on)
we beoğ2nd pres. şu eart
şu bistge sind(on)
ge beoğ3rd pres. he is
he biğhie sind(on)
hie beoğ1st pret. ic wæs we wæron 2nd pret. şu wære ge waeron 3rd pret. heo wæs hie wæron 1st pret. subj. ic wære we wæren 2nd pret. subj. şu wære ge wæren 3rd pret. subj. Egcferğ wære hie wæren
The "b-root" had no past tense in O.E., but often served as future tense of am/was. In 13c. it took the place of the infinitive, participle and imperative forms of am/was. Later its plural forms (we beth, ye ben, they be) became standard in M.E. and it made inroads into the singular (I be, thou beest, he beth), but forms of are claimed this turf in the 1500s and replaced be in the plural. For the origin and evolution of the am/was branches of this tangle, see am and was."That but this blow Might be the be all, and the end all." ["Macbeth" I.vii.5]
- Kansas
- 1722, from Fr., variant of Kansa, native name of a Siouan people. It is a plural (see Arkansas).
- 'em
- M.E., now taken as an abbreviation of them, but originally a form of hem, dative and accusative of the third person plural pronoun.
- Massachusetts
- plural, originally (1614) in ref. to the Algonquian native people who lived around the bay, from Algonquian Massachusett "at the large hill," in ref. to Great Blue Hill, southwest of Boston.
- mandamus
- 1530s, "writ from a superior court to an inferior one, specifying that something be done," (late 14c. in Anglo-Fr.), from L., lit. "we order," first person plural pres. indicative of mandare "to order" (see mandate).
- klezmer
- late 19c. (plural klezmorim); originally, "an itinerant East European Jewish professional musician," from Heb. kley zemer, lit. "vessels of song," thus "musical instruments."
- mace (2)
- "spice made from dry outer husk of nutmeg," late 14c., from O.Fr. macis (in Eng. taken as a plural), sometimes said to be a scribal error for L. macir, a red spicy bark from India, but OED finds this etymology unlikely.
- wegotism
- 1797, from we + egotism; "an obtrusive and too frequent use of the first person plural by a speaker or writer" [OED].
- whisker
- "hair of a man's face" (usually plural), c.1600, originally a playful formation, from M.E. wisker "anything that whisks or sweeps" (early 15c.); see whisk (v.). In ref. to animal lip hair, recorded from 1670s.
- outskirt
- "outer border," 1596, from out + skirt (q.v.). Now only in plural. Originally in Spenser.
- slather (v.)
- "spread liberally," 1866 (in Mark Twain), from a noun meaning "large amount" (usually as plural, slathers), first attested 1857; a dialectal word of uncertain origin, perhaps from Ir. sliotar.
- scads
- "large amounts," 1869, Amer.Eng., earlier "dollar" (1858, usually in plural), of uncertain origin. Unknown connection to scad (c.1600), a Cornish name for a type of fish abundant on the British coast, which probably is a variant of shad (q.v.).
- pence
- 1393, contraction of penies, collective plural of penny.
- fluke (1)
- "flat end of an arm of an anchor," 1561, perhaps from fluke (3) on resemblance of shape, or from L.Ger. flügel "wing." Meaning "whale's tail" (in plural) is 1725.
- tibia
- lower leg bone, 1726, from L. tibia "shinbone," also "pipe, flute," in which sense it originally came into English (1540s). Of unknown origin. The Latin plural is tibiæ.