Meanings
-s1
- Used to form regular plurals of nouns.
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
- Used to form many pluralia tantum (nouns that are almost or entirely without singular forms).
shorts
1 more example
sunglasses
- Forms names of sciences and fields of studies from adjectives (See Usage notes)
- 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.
He placed in the 200s in the end.
4 more examples
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.
High indicators of PFAS (in the 500s) were also found in a Chick-fil-A sandwich wrapper and in fiber bowls at Cava, a Mediterranean restaurant chain. Indicator levels in the 300s and 400s were found in a bag of cookies at Arby’s, bamboo paper plates at Stop & Shop, and in a bag for both cookies and French toast sticks at Burger King. Levels of PFAS indicators in the 200s were found in a Sweetgreen paper bag for focaccia, additional items at Cava, and in bags for french fries, cookies and Chicken McNuggets at McDonald’s.
2022 March 25, Sandee LaMotte, “Dangerous chemicals found in food wrappers at major fast-food restaurants and grocery chains, report says”, in CNN
-s2
- Used to form the third-person singular indicative present tense of verbs.
to eat → he eats
-s3
- Used in the formation of certain English adverbs.
alway + -s → always
5 more examples
forward + -s → forwards
downward + -s → downwards
sometime + -s → sometimes
betime + -s → betimes
while + -s → whiles
-s4
alternative -'s · alternative -es
- on pronounsPossessive marker, indicating that an object belongs to the word bearing the marker.
hers; its; ones (now one’s); theirs
1 more example
(neopronouns): eirs; hirs; pers; thons; xyrs; zirs
- alternativenonstandardon nounsAlternative form of -'s.
devils doorbell; dogs-bane; St. Marys; (obsolete) kings
-s5
- colloquialhumorousinformalsometimesHypocoristic suffix
Babs; moms; pops; homes; toots
-s6
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
-s · suffix
- Proto-Indo-European*-es
- Proto-Germanic*-ōs
- Proto-West Germanic*-ōs
- Old English-as
- Middle English-s
- English-s
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.
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-West Germanic
Full word history & related roots →-s · suffix
- Old English-es, -as
- Middle English-(e)s
- English-s
From Middle English -(e)s (third-person singular ending), from Northumbrian Old English -es, -as (third-person singular endings). Gradually replaced the older -eth, from Old English -(e)þ, -aþ, during the Middle English and Early Modern English periods. It is predominantly believed that -(e)s is identical to the Old English second-person singular ending -es, -est (cf. archaic Modern English -est, as in thou singest). The use for the third-person singular would have been caused by speakers of Old Norse who switched to speaking English and confounded the endings due to analogy with their native tongue. In Old Norse, the second and third person singular indicative forms were identical (e.g. þú masar, hann masar; þú þekkir, hann þekkir; etc.). An alternative theory sees the shift from /θ/ in -eth to /s/ (later /z/) in -(e)s as a mere phonetic simplification due to the frequency of the ending, but the objection to this is that no such development can be observed anywhere else in English. Nevertheless the relative similarity in sound between both forms may have facilitated the spread of -es.
More words from Middle English, Old English
Full word history & related roots →-s · suffix
- Old English-es
- Middle English-es
- English-s
From Middle English -es, from Old English -es, the masculine and neuter genitive singular ending of strong nouns. More at -'s.
More words from Middle English, Old English
Full word history & related roots →-s · suffix
- Middle English-es, -s
- English-s
A variant spelling of -'s from Middle English -es, -s, partly an archaism, partly by dropping the apostrophe.
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →-s · suffix
Modern sense in slang [circa 1936]. According to OED, a colloquial clipping of the hypocoristic diminutive suffix -sy. As AHD writes, -sy itself usually being informal, ironic and/or jocular, and possibly a combination of -s (plural marker) and conflation of -y as adjectival with its sense as a diminutive suffix (e.g., puppy, kitty), the latter notion probably from Scots.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic ـَانِ, ـَيْنِ
- ـَانِ (-āni)regular plurals of nouns
- ـَيْنِ (-ayni)regular plurals of nouns
- ـُونَ (-ūna)regular plurals of nouns
- ـِينَ (-īna)regular plurals of nouns
- ـَات (-āt)regular plurals of nouns
Basque -ak, -ok
- -akregular plurals of nouns
- -okregular plurals of nouns
Catalan -s, -es
- -sregular plurals of nouns
- -esregular plurals of nouns
Chinese Mandarin 們 /们
- 們 /们 (men)regular plurals of nouns
Danish -er, -e
- -erregular plurals of nouns
- -eregular plurals of nouns
Dutch -en, -s
- -enregular plurals of nouns
- -sregular plurals of nouns
Esperanto -j
- -jregular plurals of nouns
Estonian -d
- -dregular plurals of nouns
Finnish -t
- -tregular plurals of nouns
French -s, -x
- -sregular plurals of nouns
- -xregular plurals of nouns
German -e, -en
- -eregular plurals of nouns
- -enregular plurals of nouns
- -erregular plurals of nouns
- -sregular plurals of nouns
Greek -αίοι, -ήδες
- -αίοι (-aíoi)regular plurals of nouns
- -ήδες (-ídes)regular plurals of nouns
- -άδες (-ádes)regular plurals of nouns
- -ες (-es)regular plurals of nouns
- -ές (-és)regular plurals of nouns
- -οι (-oi)regular plurals of nouns
- -οί (-oí)regular plurals of nouns
- -ούδες (-oúdes)regular plurals of nouns
- -ηδες (-ides)regular plurals of nouns
- -α (-a)regular plurals of nouns
- -ατα (-ata)regular plurals of nouns
- -ά (-á)regular plurals of nouns
Hebrew ־ִים, ־ֵי
- ־ִים (-im)regular plurals of nouns
- ־ֵי (-ey)regular plurals of nouns
- ־וֹת (-ot)regular plurals of nouns
- ־ִין (-in)regular plurals of nouns
Hungarian -k, -ak
- -kregular plurals of nouns
- -akregular plurals of nouns
- -okregular plurals of nouns
- -ekregular plurals of nouns
- -ökregular plurals of nouns
Icelandic -a, -ar
- -aregular plurals of nouns
- -arregular plurals of nouns
Irish -anna, -acha
- -annaregular plurals of nouns
- -acharegular plurals of nouns
- -aregular plurals of nouns
- -eregular plurals of nouns
- -íregular plurals of nouns
- -teregular plurals of nouns
- -taíregular plurals of nouns
- -tíregular plurals of nouns
- -aighregular plurals of nouns
- -taregular plurals of nouns
Italian -i, -e
- -iregular plurals of nouns
- -eregular plurals of nouns
Japanese 達, 等
- 達 (tachi)regular plurals of nouns
- 等 (ra)regular plurals of nouns
- 供 (domo)regular plurals of nouns
Korean -들, -네
- -들 (-deul)regular plurals of nouns
- -네 (-ne)regular plurals of nouns
Latin -ī, -ae
- -īregular plurals of nouns
- -aeregular plurals of nouns
- -aregular plurals of nouns
Latvian -s
- -sregular plurals of nouns
Lithuanian -s
- -sregular plurals of nouns
Norwegian Bokmål -er
- -erregular plurals of nouns
Persian ـها, ـهایی
- ـهاregular plurals of nouns
- ـهاییregular plurals of nouns
- ـهانregular plurals of nouns
Polish -i, -y (depalatalized)
- -iregular plurals of nouns
- -y (depalatalized)regular plurals of nouns
- -aregular plurals of nouns
- -owieregular plurals of nouns
Portuguese -s, -es
- -sregular plurals of nouns
- -esregular plurals of nouns
- -nsregular plurals of nouns
- -isregular plurals of nouns
- -ãosregular plurals of nouns
- -õesregular plurals of nouns
- -ãesregular plurals of nouns
Romanian -i, -e
- -iregular plurals of nouns
- -eregular plurals of nouns
- -uriregular plurals of nouns
- -leregular plurals of nouns
Spanish -s, -es
- -sregular plurals of nouns
- -esregular plurals of nouns
Swahili wa-, mi-
- wa-regular plurals of nouns
- mi-regular plurals of nouns
- ma-regular plurals of nouns
- vi-regular plurals of nouns
Swedish -ar -er -or -r -n
- -ar -er -or -r -nregular plurals of nouns
Tagalog mga
- mgaregular plurals of nouns
Thai พวก, เหล่า
- พวก (pûuak)regular plurals of nouns
- เหล่า (lào)regular plurals of nouns
- ทั้งหลาย (táng-lǎai)regular plurals of nouns
Turkish -ler, -lar
- -lerregular plurals of nouns
- -larregular plurals of nouns
Vietnamese những, các
- nhữngregular plurals of nouns
- cácregular plurals of nouns
- mấyregular plurals of nouns
Welsh -aid, -aint
- -aidregular plurals of nouns
- -aintregular plurals of nouns
- -auregular plurals of nouns
- -edregular plurals of nouns
- -eddregular plurals of nouns
- -enregular plurals of nouns
- -iregular plurals of nouns
- -iaidregular plurals of nouns
- -iauregular plurals of nouns
- -ionregular plurals of nouns
- -odregular plurals of nouns
- -oeddregular plurals of nouns
Rhymes & wordplay
Sounds the same
Cite this entry
-s. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/-s
“-s.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/-s. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “-s,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/-s.
Source: -s on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.