duale tantum

UK/dʊˈɑːleɪˈtæntəm/UK/dʊˈɑːleɪˈtantəm/UK[dʊˈɑːleɪˈtant̩m]

noun

A noun (or specific sense of a noun) that can only occur in the dual, and which lacks forms for singular, plural, and any other number.

Meanings

nounduale tantum (plural dualia tantum)

plural dualia tantum

  1. grammarA noun (or specific sense of a noun) that can only occur in the dual, and which lacks forms for singular, plural, and any other number.

    The second -c- refers to icgaʹkwal “eel” (duale tantum), a form used alongside of igaʹkwal (masc.).

    1909, Edward Sapir, Wishram Texts, page 4, footnote 1
    2 more examples

    The only natural-pair noun consistently preferring the dual over the plural, ὄσσε, virtually a duale tantum, refers to the eyes not as mere sense-organs but as ‘windows of the soul’.

    1989, Frans Plank, “On Humboldt on the Dual” in Linguistic Categorization, eds. R. Corrigan, F.R. Eckman, and M.P. Noonan, § 2.5, 309

    Generally singularia tantum are the most common; we find instances with just the plural or with dual and plural but lacking the singular; dualia tantum are quite rare.

    2000, Greville G. Corbett, Number, chapter v, § 5.8.2, 175

Origin

  1. Latinduāle tantum“dual as such; dual only”
  2. Englishduale tantum

From Latin duāle tantum (“dual as such; dual only”), from duāle + tantum.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

German Dualetantum
  • Dualetantumgrammar: noun that can only occur in the dual
Polish duale tantum
  • duale tantumgrammar: noun that can only occur in the dual
Cite this entry
APA

duale tantum. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/duale%20tantum

MLA

“duale tantum.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/duale%20tantum. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “duale tantum,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/duale%20tantum.

Source: duale tantum on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.