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A ; ) is a noun that appears only in the plural form and does not have a singular variant for referring to a single object. In a less strict usage of the term, it can also refer to nouns whose singular form is rarely used. In English, pluralia tantum are often words that denote objects that occur or function as pairs or sets, such as spectacles, trousers, pants, scissors, clothes, or genitals. Other examples are for collections that, like alms, cannot conceivably be singular. Other examples include , jeans, outskirts, odds, riches, goods, news, gallows (although later treated as singular), surroundings, thanks, and heroics.
In some languages, pluralia tantum refer to points or periods of time (for example, Latin kalendae 'calends, the first day of the month', German language Ferien 'vacation, holiday'), or to events (for example, Finnish language häät 'wedding'), or to liquids (for example, Hebrew language מַיִם (mayim) and Chewa language madzí, both 'water').
A bilingual example is the Latin word fasces that was brought into English; when referring to the symbol of authority, it is a plurale tantum noun in both languages. "1590s, from Latin fasces 'bundle of rods containing an axe with the blade projecting' (plural of fascis 'bundle' of wood, etc.).... Carried before a lictor, a superior Roman magistrate, as a symbol of power over life and limb: the sticks symbolized punishment by whipping, the axe-head execution by beheading." Retrieved 2 August 2015.
In English, a word may have many definitions only some of which are pluralia tantum. The word "glasses" (a set of corrective lenses to improve eyesight) is plurale tantum. In contrast, the word "glass"—either a container for drinks (a count noun) or a vitreous substance (a mass noun)—may be singular or plural. Some words, such as "brain" and "intestine", can be used as either plurale tantum nouns or count nouns.
In English, such words are almost always . Some uncountable nouns can be alternatively used as count nouns when meaning "a type of", and the plural means "more than one type of". For example, strength is uncountable in Strength is power, but it can be used as a countable noun to mean an instance of a strength, as in My strengths are in physics and chemistry. Some words, especially proper nouns such as the name of an individual, are nearly always in the singular form because there is only one example of what that noun means. Others like "nothingness" or "emptiness" refer to logical states of absence that can't sensibly be quantified at all, hence are not usefully "mass nouns" but are still singulare tantum.
In some other languages, rather than quantifying a plurale tantum noun with a measure word, special numeral forms are used in such cases. In Polish language, for example, "one pair of eyeglasses" is expressed as either jedne okulary (one- plural glasses- plural) or jedna para okularów (one- singular pair- singular glasses- genitive plural). For larger quantities, "collective numeral" forms are available: troje drzwi (three doors), pięcioro skrzypiec (five violins). Compare them to the ordinary numeral forms found in Polish: trzy filmy/pięć filmów (three films/five films)
The Russian language деньги (, 'money') originally had a singular, denga]] (), which meant a copper coin worth half a kopeck.
The Yiddish word kreplach is a well known example of a plurale tantum that is also plural only in other languages into which it is borrowed, 'one of the kreplach' would be איינער פון די קרעפּלאַך (eyner fun di kreplakh).
The Welsh language nefoedd, 'heaven', is the plural of nef, which is no longer part of the spoken language. Nefoedd is now used with the singular meaning of 'heaven' and plural of 'heavens'.
In Hebrew, a few words that indicate an action establishing a new relationship between two persons, are indicated by the plural form only: אירוסין (engagement), נישואין (marriage), קידושין (religious marriage), גירושין (divorce), פיטורין (dismissal), and likewise.
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