Make Your Editor Cry: Dictionary (Awkward Plural)
BLUF: (Bottom Line Up Front)
The plural of dictionary is dictionaries.
dictionary: a reference source in print or electronic form containing words usually alphabetically arranged along with information about their forms, pronunciations, functions, etymologies, meanings, and syntactic and idiomatic uses
The singular of dictionary is dictionary. The plural of dictionary is dictionaries. The noun dictionary conforms to the standard rules for forming the plurals of nouns in English.
Spellings are made by people. Dictionaries - eventually - reflect popular choices.
People are under the impression that dictionaries legislate language. What a dictionary does is keep track of usages over time.
Gregg Bridgeman is the Editor-in-Chief at Olivia Kimbrell Press. He is husband to best-selling Christian author Hallee Bridgeman and parent to three. He continues to proudly serve in the US Armed Forces and has done so in either an active or reserve capacity for more than twenty years as an airborne and air assault qualified paratrooper, earning a Bronze Star for his service. Most importantly, he was ordained in October of 2001 after surrendering his life to Christ decades earlier.
