English Reference
adjective · noun

plural

adj. · n.
US /ˈpɫʊɹəɫ/ UK /plˈɔːɹəl/ plu·ral UK spelling plurals

  1. 01 B1 Intermediate

    adj.relating to more than one person or thing.

    adj.denoting more than one person, thing, or instance; in English grammar, it refers to the form of a word used for any number other than one.

    Simple

    The word 'cats' is the plural form of the word 'cat'.

    In context

    The student struggled to remember the irregular plural forms of certain nouns, such as 'children' and 'phenomena'.

  2. 02 C1 Advanced AcademicFormal

    adj.made up of many different groups, ideas, or parts.

    adj.relating to a system or society that contains different groups or diverse elements; pluralistic.

    Simple

    We live in a plural society where many different cultures exist together.

    In context

    The philosopher argued that a plural approach to ethics is necessary to accommodate the diverse values found in modern democracies.

    diversevariedpluralistic
  3. 03 B1 Intermediate

    n.the form of a word that you use when you are talking about more than one thing.

    n.a word or grammatical form used to denote more than one referent.

    Simple

    In English, most nouns form their plural by adding an 's' at the end.

    In context

    The professor noted that some collective nouns can take either a singular or a plural verb depending on the intended emphasis.

    Pitfall
    What is the plural for 'child'? What is the plural of 'child'?

    When asking for the grammatical form, use the preposition 'of'.


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.

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This entry
Origin Old French plurel
Level B1 · Intermediate
Frequency Frequent
Updated