Nonsingular

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Relating to a situation where more than one item or outcome exists without a single distinguishing feature
2. Referring to a quantity or concept involving multiple elements rather than a single one
3. Describing something that encompasses more than a single entity or instance

Etymology: "Nonsingular" is a plain formation: the prefix "non-" attached to "singular," meaning "not singular." The prefix comes from Old English "nān," meaning "not one" or "none," which descends from a Proto-Germanic compound of "ne" (not) and "ain" (one). The same ancestry gave English "none" and "nonce." "Singular" itself comes from Latin "singularis," meaning "single" or "alone," from "singulus," meaning "one at a time." In grammar, "singular" names the form that refers to one item, so "nonsingular" describes anything beyond that, such as the plural in English or the dual in languages that keep a separate form for two things.