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English
Alternative forms
Etymology
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
Adjective
plural (comparative more plural, superlative most plural)
- 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!
- (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
- (multiplicity, not comparable, of a person) Having some form of multiplicity, especially dissociative identity disorder.
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
more than one
- Albanian: shumës (sq)
- Armenian: հոգնակի (hy) (hognaki)
- Bulgarian: множествен (bg) (množestven)
- Catalan: plural (ca)
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 複數 / 复数 (zh) (fùshù), 眾數 / 众数 (zh) (zhòngshù)
- Danish: flere (da), flertal (da), plural (da)
- Dutch: meervoudig (nl), meervoudige (nl)
- Esperanto: plurnombra
- Finnish: monikollinen (fi), monikko- (fi)
- French: pluriel (fr)
- Galician: plural (gl) m
- German: Plural-, pluralisch (de), plural (de), mehrfach (de), Mehrzahl-
- Greek: πληθυντικός (el) (plithyntikós)
- Ancient Greek: πληθυντικός (plēthuntikós)
- Hebrew: לשון רבים (lišon rabim)
- Hindi: अनेक (hi) (anek)
- Icelandic: fleir-, marg-, fleirtölu-, í fleirtölu
- Ido: plurala (io)
- Indonesian: jamak (id)
- Irish: iolra (ga)
- Italian: plurale (it)
- Japanese: 複数 (ja) (ふくすう, fukusū)
- Kabyle: asget m
- Korean: 복수(複數) (ko) (boksu)
- Latin: plūrālis
- Ligurian: plurâle
- Malay: jamak (ms)
- Marathi: अनेक (anek)
- Occitan: plural (oc)
- Persian: جمع (fa) (jam'), پر (fa) (porr) (archaic)
- Polish: mnogi (pl)
- Portuguese: plural (pt)
- Romanian: plural (ro)
- Russian: мно́жественный (ru) (mnóžestvennyj)
- Scottish Gaelic: iolra
- Serbo-Croatian:
- Cyrillic: множински, плурални
- Latin: množinski (sh), pluralni (sh)
- Southern Altai: кӧп (köp)
- Spanish: plural (es)
- Swedish: plural (sv), flertal (sv)
- Tamil: பல (ta) (pala), பன் (ta) (paṉ)
- Thai: พหูพจน์ (th) (pá-hǔu-pót)
- Turkish: çok (tr)
- Ukrainian: множи́нний (množýnnyj) (grammar), чисельний (čyselʹnyj)
- Volapük: plunumik (vo)
- Walloon: pluriyal (wa)
- Welsh: lluosog (cy)
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Noun
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'.
2021 April 25, John Malathronas, “Which languages are easiest – and most difficult – for native English speakers to learn?”, in CNN[1], Atlanta, Ga.: Warner Bros. Discovery, 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.
- (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, 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
- 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
Related terms
Translations
the plural number
- Afrikaans: meervoud (af)
- Albanian: shumës (sq) m
- Arabic: الْجَمْع (ar) (al-jamʕ) (definite)
- Armenian: հոգնակի թիվ (hy) (hognaki tʻiv), հոգնակի (hy) (hognaki)
- Azerbaijani: cəm (az)
- Bashkir: күплек (küplek)
- Belarusian: мно́жны лік m (mnóžny lik)
- Bengali: বহুবচন (bn) (bohubocon)
- Bulgarian: мно́жествено число́ n (mnóžestveno čisló)
- Burmese: ဗဟုဝုစ်ကိန်း (my) (ba.hu.wuckin:)
- Catalan: plural (ca)
- Chinese:
- Cantonese: 複數 / 复数 (fuk1 sou3), 眾數 / 众数 (zung3 sou3)
- Mandarin: 複數 / 复数 (zh) (fùshù), 眾數 / 众数 (zh) (zhòngshù)
- Czech: množné číslo (cs) n
- Danish: flertal (da) n
- Dutch: meervoud (nl) n
- Esperanto: multenombro (eo)
- Estonian: mitmus (et)
- Finnish: monikko (fi)
- French: pluriel (fr) m
- Galician: plural (gl) m
- Georgian: მრავლობითი რიცხვი (mravlobiti ricxvi), მრავლობითი (ka) (mravlobiti)
- German: Mehrzahl (de) f, Plural (de) m
- Greek: πληθυντικός (el) m (plithyntikós)
- Hebrew: רַבִּים m pl (rabím)
- Hindi: बहुवचन (hi) m (bahuvcan)
- Hungarian: többes szám (hu)
- Icelandic: fleirtala (is) f
- Indonesian: jamak (id), plural (id)
- Irish: iolra (ga) m
- Japanese: 複数 (ja) (ふくすう, fukusū)
- Kazakh: көптік жалғау (köptik jalğaw), көпше (kk) (köpše)
- Khmer: ពហុវចនៈ (pĕəʼhuʼ vaccaʼnaʼ)
- Korean: 복수(複數) (ko) (boksu)
- Kyrgyz: көптүк сан (ky) (köptük san), көптүк (ky) (köptük)
- Lao: ພະຫຸພົດ (pha hu phot)
- Latin: (numerus (la)) pluralis, numerus multitudinis, multitudo (la), pluralitas
- Latvian: daudzskaitlis (lv) m
- Lithuanian: daugiskaita (lt) f
- Macedonian: множина f (množina), мн. (mk) f (mn.)
- Malay: jamak (ms), majmuk (ms)
- Maltese: il-plural m (definite)
- Mongolian:
- Cyrillic: олон тоо (olon too)
- Norwegian:
- Bokmål: flertall (no) n
- Pashto: جمع (ps) m (jam')
- Persian:
- Iranian Persian: جَمْع (fa) (jam')
- Polish: liczba mnoga (pl) f
- Portuguese: plural (pt) m
- Romanian: plural (ro) n, număr plural (ro) n
- Russian: мно́жественное число́ (ru) n (mnóžestvennoje čisló), мн. ч. n (mn. č.), мн. n (mn.)
- Sami:
- Northern Sami: (please verify) máŋggaidlohku
- Serbo-Croatian:
- Cyrillic: множѝна f, плу̀ра̄л m
- Latin: množìna (sh) f, plùrāl (sh) m
- Slovak: množné číslo, plurál (sk) m
- Slovene: množina (sl) f
- Southern Altai: кӧп (köp), кӧп тоо (köp too)
- Spanish: plural (es)
- Swedish: flertal (sv) n, pluralis (sv) n
- Tagalog: maramihan
- Tajik: ҷамъ (tg) (jam'), шумораи ҷамъ (šumora-yi jam')
- Tamil: பன்மை (ta) (paṉmai)
- Tatar: күплек (tt) (küplek), күплек сан (küplek san)
- Thai: พหูพจน์ (th) (pá-hǔu-pót)
- Tibetan: གཅིག་ཚིག་ (gcig tshig)
- Turkish: çoğul (tr), çokluk
- Turkmen: köplük, köplük sany
- Ukrainian: множина́ (uk) f (množyná)
- Urdu: جَمْع f (jam')
- Uyghur: كۆپلۈك سان (köplük san), كۆپلۈك (köplük)
- Uzbek: koʻplik (uz), koʻplik son
- Vietnamese: số nhiều (vi)
- Walloon: pluriyal (wa) m
- Yiddish: מערצאָל f (mertsol)
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word in plural form
- Albanian: shumës (sq)
- Arabic: جَمْع (ar) (jamʕ)
- Armenian: հոգնակի թիվ (hy) (hognaki tʻiv), հոգնակի (hy) (hognaki)
- Azerbaijani: cəm (az)
- Belarusian: мно́жны лік m (mnóžny lik)
- Bulgarian: мно́жествено число́ n (mnóžestveno čisló)
- Burmese: ဗဟုဝုစ်ကိန်း (my) (ba.hu.wuckin:)
- Catalan: plural (ca) m
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 複數 / 复数 (zh) (fùshù), 眾數 / 众数 (zh) (zhòngshù)
- Czech: množné číslo (cs) n
- Danish: flertal (da) n
- Dutch: meervoud (nl) n
- Estonian: mitmus (et)
- Faroese: fleirtal (fo) n
- Finnish: monikko (fi)
- French: pluriel (fr) m
- Frisian:
- West Frisian: meartal (fy) n
- Galician: plural (gl) m
- Georgian: მრავლობითი (ka) (mravlobiti), მრავლობითი რიცხვი (mravlobiti ricxvi)
- German: Plural (de) m, Pluralform (de) f
- Greek: πληθυντικός (el) m (plithyntikós)
- Hindi: बहुवचन (hi) m (bahuvcan)
- Hungarian: többes számú alak
- Icelandic: fleirtala (is) f
- Indonesian: bentuk jamak
- Ingrian: monikko
- Italian: plurale (it) m
- Japanese: 複数形 (ja) (ふくすうけい, fukusūkei), 複数 (ja) (ふくすう, fukusū)
- Khmer: ពហុវចនៈ (pĕəʼhuʼ vaccaʼnaʼ)
- Korean: 복수형(複數形) (boksuhyeong), 복수(複數) (ko) (boksu), 겹셈 (gyeopsem)
- Kurdish:
- Central Kurdish: پِڕژِمار (pirrjimar)
- Lao: ພະຫຸພົດ (pha hu phot)
- Latvian: daudzskaitlis (lv) m
- Lithuanian: daugiskaita (lt) f
- Luxembourgish: Pluriel (lb) m, Méizuel (lb) f
- Macedonian: множина f (množina)
- Mongolian:
- Cyrillic: олон тоо (olon too)
- Navajo: díkwíjíltʼéego, naaki dóó baʼąą, tááʼ dóó baʼąą
- Norman: pluriel m
- Norwegian:
- Bokmål: flertall (no) n
- Occitan: plural (oc) m
- Old English: maniġfeald
- Persian:
- Iranian Persian: جَمْع (fa) (jam')
- Middle Persian: ws
- Polish: liczba mnoga (pl) f
- Portuguese: plural (pt) m
- Romanian: plural (ro) n
- Russian: мно́жественное число́ (ru) n (mnóžestvennoje čisló)
- Scottish Gaelic: iolra m
- Serbo-Croatian:
- Cyrillic: множина f, плурал m
- Latin: množina (sh) f, plural (sh) m
- Slovak: množné číslo n, plurál (sk) m
- Slovene: množina (sl) f
- Southern Altai: кӧп (köp)
- Spanish: plural (es) m
- Swahili: wingi (sw)
- Swedish: plural (sv) n, pluralis (sv) n, flertal (sv) n
- Tajik: ҷамъ (tg) (jam')
- Tamil: பன்மை (ta) (paṉmai)
- Telugu: బహువచనము (te) (bahuvacanamu)
- Thai: พหูพจน์ (th) (pá-hǔu-pót)
- Turkish: çoğul (tr), çokluk (tr)
- Ukrainian: множина́ (uk) f (množyná)
- Vietnamese: số nhiều (vi)
- Volapük: plunum (vo)
- Walloon: pluriyal (wa) m
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See also
Catalan
Etymology
Learned borrowing from Latin plūrālis.
Pronunciation
Adjective
plural m or f (masculine and feminine plural plurals)
- plural
- Antonym: singular
Noun
plural m (plural plurals)
- plural
- Antonym: singular
Derived terms
Related terms
Further reading
- “plural”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
- “plural”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
- “plural” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
- Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “plural”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)
French
Etymology
Learned borrowing from Latin plūrālis.
Pronunciation
Adjective
plural (feminine plurale, masculine plural pluraux, feminine plural plurales)
- plural, large
Related terms
Further reading
Galician
Etymology
Proto-Indo-European *-yōs Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.? Galician plural Learned borrowing from Latin plūrālis.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /pluˈɾal/ [pluˈɾɑɫ]
- Rhymes: -al
- Hyphenation: plu‧ral
Adjective
plural m or f (plural plurais)
- plural
- Antonym: singular
Derived terms
Related terms
Further reading
German
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin plūrālis.
Pronunciation
Adjective
plural (strong nominative masculine singular pluraler, not comparable)
- pluralistic
- Synonym: pluralistisch
Declension
References
- “plural” in Duden online
- “plural”, in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache[2] (in German)
Indonesian
Etymology
Borrowed from Dutch pluraal (“plural”).
Pronunciation
Adjective
plural (comparative lebih plural, superlative paling plural)
- plural (more than one)
- Synonyms: jamak, majemuk
Related terms
Further reading
Maltese
Etymology
Proto-Indo-European *-yōs Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.? Maltese plural Borrowed from Italian plurale.
Pronunciation
Noun
plural m (plural plurali)
- (grammar) plural
- plural sħiħ ― sound plural
- plural miksur ― broken plural
Related terms
Middle English
Adjective
plural
- alternative form of plurelle
Occitan
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin plūrālis.
Pronunciation
Noun
plural m (plural plurals)
- plural
Portuguese
Etymology
Proto-Indo-European *-yōs Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.? Portuguese plural Learned borrowing from Latin plūrālis.
Pronunciation
- Rhymes: (Portugal) -al, (Brazil) -aw
- Hyphenation: plu‧ral
Adjective
plural m or f (plural plurais)
- plural (consisting of more than one things)
- Antonym: singular
Noun
plural m (plural plurais)
- (grammar) plural (word referring to multiple things)
- Antonym: singular
Derived terms
Related terms
Further reading
Romanian
Alternative forms
Etymology
Proto-Indo-European *-yōs Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.? Romanian plural Learned borrowing from Latin pluralis.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /pluˈral/
- Rhymes: -al
- Hyphenation: plu‧ral
Noun
plural n (plural plurali)
- plural
Declension
Serbo-Croatian
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin plūrālis.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /plǔraːl/
- Hyphenation: plu‧ral
Noun
plùrāl m inan (Cyrillic spelling плу̀ра̄л)
- (uncountable) plural
- Synonym: množìna
Declension
Spanish
Etymology
Proto-Indo-European *-yōs Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.? Spanish plural Learned borrowing from Latin plūrālis.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /pluˈɾal/ [pluˈɾal]
- Rhymes: -al
- Syllabification: plu‧ral
Adjective
plural m or f (masculine and feminine plural plurales)
- plural, multiple
- Antonym: singular
Noun
plural m (plural plurales)
- (grammar) plural
- Antonym: singular
Derived terms
Related terms
Further reading
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