-s
/s/
Word Rarity
Common
Frequency: 5.86 in modern English
1
Scrabble Score
1
Letters
2
Syllables
1
Unique Chars
Meaning
suffix
Used to form many pluralia tantum (nouns that are almost or entirely without singular forms).
suffix
Used to form many pluralia tantum (nouns that are almost or entirely without singular forms).
suffix
When appended to a number ending in at least one 0, expresses a range of numbers which share the digits before some or (usually) all of the 0s; frequently used for decades, centuries and temperatures.
suffix
Used to form the third-person singular indicative present tense of verbs.
suffix
Used in various other indicative present tenses
suffix
Possessive marker, indicating that an object belongs to the word bearing the marker.
Example Sentences
- "one computer → five computers; Kennedy → Kennedys; hanger-on → hangers-on; lapful → lapfuls; cul-de-sac → cul-de-sacs; standby → standbys; push-up → push-ups; gin and tonic → gin and tonics; pair → pairs; beef → beefs"
- "shorts"
- "sunglasses"
- "We often look back on the 1960s [the years from 1960 to 1969] with rose-tinted glasses."
- "The Industrial Revolution went into full-swing during the 1800s [the years from 1800 to 1899 – but see usage notes]."
- "The temperature today will be in the low 30s."
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English -s, -es, from Old English -as, nominative-accusative plural ending of masculine a-stem (i.e. strong) declension nouns, from Proto-West Germanic *-ōs, from Proto-Germanic *-ōs, *‑ōz, from Proto-Indo-European *-es, *-oes (plural endings). The spread of this ending in later Middle English was once argued to have been the result of Anglo-Norman influence; however, -as was already the most common Old English plural marker (used in approximately 40% of Old English nouns), and was initially more common in the North of England where French influence was weakest, only later gradually spreading south, replacing the usual southern plural ending -en. Cognate with Scots -s (plural ending), Saterland Frisian -s (plural ending), West Frisian -s (plural ending), Dutch -s (plural ending), Low German -s (plural ending), Danish -er (plural ending), Swedish -r, -ar, -or (plural ending), Icelandic -ar (plural ending), Gothic -𐍉𐍃 (-ōs, nominative plural ending of a-stem masculine nouns). Not directly related to German -er (plural ending) which has a different origin.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: -s, -as, *-ōs, *-es, -es, -es, -as