asses
- 1Plural of ass.
The pack train relied on sturdy asses to haul supplies up the mountain.
Several asses brayed loudly as the gate swung open.
Note
The regular plural, built with the -es that English adds after a sibilant such as -ss. It carries every countable meaning of the singular: the animal, the fool and, in US vulgar slang, the buttocks. Braying asses in a pack train are harmless, but the slang reading is not for polite company. The identical spelling also serves as the plural of the Roman coin, a separate word altogether.
- 2Plural of as.
Archaeologists uncovered a hoard of corroded asses near the old forum.
Wages for a day's labor amounted to only a few asses in that period.
Note
A plural borrowed whole from Latin. It is assēs, the nominative plural of as, which lost only its long mark on the way into English. The doubled s belongs to the Latin rather than to an English -es ending, so its match with the animal plural is pure coincidence. It counts Roman coins of bronze, later of copper, or their value, which makes it the natural word for prices and wages in ancient Rome.
asses is a form of ass
ass, noun: The rounded, fleshy rear of the body above the legs, on which a person sits. Full entry
- Forms
- assasses plural
- Spelling
- ass → asses: add -es
- Sound
- The ending sounds like /ɪz/, an extra syllable.
asses is a form of as
Practice
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Origin
From Latin 'assēs', the nominative plural of 'as'.