Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Relating to or composed of more than one member, set, or kind.
  • adjective Grammar Of or being a grammatical form that designates more than one of the things specified.
  • noun The plural number or form.
  • noun A word or term in the plural form.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Containing more than one; consisting of two or more, or designating two or more.
  • Specifically In grammar, noting the form of a word (primarily of a noun or pronoun, then of an adjective qualifying it, and finally of a verb of which it is subject) which marks it as signifying or relating to more than one, as distinguished from singular, signifying only one; in some languages, which have a dual form for two, signifying more than two: thus, boys is the plural number of boy, men of man, we of I, these of this, are of is, and were of was.
  • noun The state of being manifold or more than one.
  • noun That form of a word which expresses plurality, or the plural number.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Gram.) The plural number; that form of a word which expresses or denotes more than one; a word in the plural form.
  • adjective Relating to, or containing, more than one; designating two or more.
  • adjective (Gram.) the number which designates more than one. See Number, n., 8.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Consisting of or containing more than one of something.
  • adjective comparable Pluralistic.
  • noun grammar : 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.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective grammatical number category referring to two or more items or units
  • adjective composed of more than one member, set, or kind
  • noun the form of a word that is used to denote more than one

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English plurel, from Old French, from Latin plūrālis, from plūs, plūr-, more; see pelə- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English plurelle, from Old French plurel ("plural"), from Latin pluralis ("of or belonging to more than one, belonging to many", adjective), from plus, pluris ("more") + -alis.

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