Pluralizing

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. The process of making a word plural by changing its form to indicate more than one
2. Changing a singular noun into its plural version to reflect multiple items or people
3. Converting words from singular to plural form to express quantity greater than one

Etymology: The verb "pluralize" is built from "plural" and the suffix "-ize", and the suffix has a longer journey than the base. It goes back to Ancient Greek "-ízō", a verb-forming ending meaning roughly "to make into" or "to treat in a certain way." Latin took it as "-izare" and later "-izō", French adopted it as "-iser," and Middle English borrowed it as "-isen," which eventually became the modern "-ize." So the ending that turns "plural" into an action is itself a Greek import that reached English by way of Latin and French. "Plural" comes from Latin "pluralis," derived from "plus," meaning "more," and the same "plus" root gives English words like "plus" and "surplus." The base word therefore carries the idea of "more" at its core, which makes "pluralize" literally "to make more." Since the verb is formed by simply attaching "-ize" to an existing English word, it is a straightforward coinage rather than an ancient inheritance.

Synonyms: multiplying, increasing

Antonyms: singularizing