Singularises

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To make a noun or other term singular rather than plural
2. to convert a word from a form that denotes multiple items to one that denotes only one
3. the act of changing the grammatical number of a term from plural to singular

Etymology: "Singularises" is the third-person singular present form of "singularise", a verb built from "singular" and the suffix "-ise". The base word "singular" comes from Latin "singularis", meaning "single" or "alone", ultimately from "singulus", "one at a time". English took "singular" in the sense of a single unit, and grammatical number ("singular" versus "plural") came later from that same idea of one. The suffix "-ise" (also spelled "-ize" in American usage) turns nouns and adjectives into verbs meaning "to make into" or "to treat in the manner of". Attaching it to "singular" gives a verb meaning to make something singular, which in grammar means reducing a plural term to its single form. Because the verb is a straightforward combination of two existing English parts, its meaning follows directly from them.