-ren

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Jump to navigation Jump to search

English

[edit]

Etymology

[edit]

Back-formation from children and brethren.

Suffix

[edit]

-ren

  1. (chiefly nonstandard, humorous) Used to form the plural of nouns
    • 2006, Timothy White, Catch a fire: the life of Bob Marley:
      As Ciddy and child had slept soundly under Omeriah's roof, a group of young "kidren" playing outside sang a "ring song" []
    • 2006, Alex Wheatle, Island songs:
      Unruly kidren would fling rockstone after him.
    • 2008, Douglas Sarine, Kent Nichols, The Ninja Handbook:
      This exercise will help you develop the skills to tell your ninja brethren (and sistren and thingren) apart. Simply match the name of each famous ninja with his/her/its deadly eyes.

Usage notes

[edit]
  • In Standard English, this suffix occurs only in children. Some non-standard uses can be found in dialects, such as calveren (calves), lambren (lambs), etc. In brethren and sistren, the suffix is -en, with the -r- coming from the stem of the word (brother, sister).

Derived terms

[edit]

Anagrams

[edit]