| 释义 |
‖ plurale tantum Gram.|plʊəˈreɪlɪ ˈtæntəm|
Pl. pluralia tantum.
[med.L. plūrāle the plural f. plūrālis plural a. + L. tantum only.]
A noun which, in any particular sense, is used only in plural form.
1930T. Sasaki Lang. R. Bridges' Poetry ii. iii. 57 The so-called ‘pluralia tantum’ (e.g. breeches, dregs). 1940A. H. Gardiner Theory of Proper Names viii. 27 Here a plurale tantum has been resolved into its component individual members, each of whom is thus represented as a bearer of the proper name in question. 1957R. W. Zandvoort Handbk. Eng. Gram. ii. 95 Some nouns never occur without a plural suffix; they are known as pluralia tantum (sing. plurale tantum). Such are riches, thanks, tongs. Ibid. 340 Most of the pluralia tantum in Kruisinga's lists may also occur without -s, if usually in another sense: compasses ‘instrument for describing circles’, but compass ‘instrument showing magnetic meridian’..colours ‘flag’, but colour ‘hue’. 1969Language XLV. 239 A collective is precisely to be expected in a word for ‘clothes’; cf. the English plurale tantum as well as Gk. heímata, only as neuter plural in Homer. 1976Archivum Linguisticum VII. 105 Because these so-called ‘uncountable’ nouns are in fact to be found in plural form, I dub them pseudo-uncountables to distinguish them from true uncountables like thunder and heat, and pluralia tantum like scissors. |