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Parts of an umbrella [2]. The word parasol is a combination of the Latin parare, and sol, meaning 'sun'. [3] Parapluie (French) similarly consists of para combined with pluie, which means 'rain' (which in turn derives from pluvia, the Latin word for rain); the usage of this word was prevalent in the nineteenth century.
Although the everyday meaning of plural is "more than one", the grammatical term has a slightly different technical meaning. In the English system of grammatical number, singular means "one (or minus one)", and plural means "not singular". In other words, plural means not just "more than one" but also "less than one (except minus one)".
However, in English and many other languages, singular and plural are the only grammatical numbers, except for possible remnants of dual number in pronouns such as both and either, and in tendency for stock phrases to use "two" as an umbrella term for "many" (eg "double jeopardy" includes prosecuting a person three, four or a dozen times on the ...
In languages with a singular/dual/plural paradigm, the exact meaning of plural depends on whether the dual is obligatory or facultative (optional). [16] In contrast to English and other singular/plural languages where plural means two or more, in languages with an obligatory dual, plural strictly means three or more.
The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language discusses the prescriptivist argument that they is a plural pronoun and that the use of they with a singular "antecedent" therefore violates the rule of agreement between antecedent and pronoun, but takes the view that they, though primarily plural, can also be singular in a secondary extended sense ...
In British English (BrE), collective nouns can take either singular (formal agreement) or plural (notional agreement) verb forms, according to whether the emphasis is on the body as a whole or on the individual members respectively; compare a committee was appointed with the committee were unable to agree.
The umbrellabird is almost entirely black, and has a conspicuous crest on the top of its head, vaguely resembling an umbrella (hence its common name). This bird has strong legs, short feet, acute claws, broad wings, and a thick bill. [6] All have an inflatable wattle on the neck, which serves to amplify their loud, booming calls.
The Umbrella, a Canadian arts talk show television series; Umbrella, an American newsletter on artist's books; Umbrella Corporation, the fictional corporation in the Resident Evil series