# Plural of "maiden"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 2, 2002, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plural-of-maiden/139975 "2002-12-02T16:37:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Algernon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a183cd/32.png) [@Algernon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algernon)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2002, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plural-of-maiden/139975/1 "2002-12-02T16:37:10Z")
I feel stupid asking this. What is the plural of maiden? Is it maiden? Or maidens? Logically I should just add an “s”, but the word “maidens” just doesn’t sound right. Could it be… one maiden, two maiden? I know that when a noun ends in an “s”, the plural is typically the same as the singular form. One corps, two corps. One chassis, two chassis. And there are all kinds of other irregular ways to form a plural, like one child, two children; one half, two halves; one soliloquy, two soliloquies; one goose, two geese; one focus, two foci; one axis, two axes; etc. (I checked the dictionary and it provides no guidance so I’m assuming just adding an “s” is correct, but damn, it still doesn’t sound right.) ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2002, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plural-of-maiden/139975/2 "2002-12-02T16:54:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Algernon \* > \*\*one goose, two geese; \*\* How about ‘one moose, two moose’? Anyway, I am almost certain the plural of maiden is maidens. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2002, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plural-of-maiden/139975/3 "2002-12-02T17:11:35Z")
“Take care young maidens, and value your wine…” Do you doubt Mr. Spock’s correctness? Seriously, “Maidens” is correct. ---
**Author:** ![twelfthsign](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ce73a5/32.png) [@twelfthsign](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twelfthsign)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2002, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plural-of-maiden/139975/4 "2002-12-02T17:13:39Z")
One Maiden Two Maidens. I checked with WordWeb, and Maidens is indeed plural. ---
**Author:** ![Algernon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a183cd/32.png) [@Algernon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algernon)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2002, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plural-of-maiden/139975/5 "2002-12-02T17:14:06Z")
Thanks **Whack-a-Mole** and **astorian**. I suspected as much, but I wanted some confirmation. ---
**Author:** ![Algernon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a183cd/32.png) [@Algernon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algernon)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2002, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plural-of-maiden/139975/6 "2002-12-02T17:18:13Z")
Thanks to **twelfthsign** too. [WordWeb](http://www.wordweb.co.uk/) looks interesting. Too bad it costs money. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2002, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plural-of-maiden/139975/7 "2002-12-02T17:18:16Z")
_I know that when a noun ends in an “s”, the plural is typically the same as the singular form. One corps, two corps. One chassis, two chassis._ English got these words from French. I wouldn’t call them typical. One bus, two buses. ---
**Author:** ![twelfthsign](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ce73a5/32.png) [@twelfthsign](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twelfthsign)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2002, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plural-of-maiden/139975/8 "2002-12-02T17:21:39Z")
**Algernon** You can download the freeware, its only minutely different than the Paid for version. ---
**Author:** ![Algernon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a183cd/32.png) [@Algernon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algernon)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2002, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plural-of-maiden/139975/9 "2002-12-02T17:21:49Z")
My use of “typically…” was clearly wrong. Should’ve used the words “can sometimes be…” They were the only examples I could find (didn’t think of Moose) where the singular form was the same as the plural form. Good elucidation **Gary T**. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2002, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plural-of-maiden/139975/10 "2002-12-02T17:22:01Z")
A part of your brain is latching onto the Germanic plural ending, and is telling you that “-en” is already a plural. E.g. “oxen”. This part of your brain is known as _shatner’s bassoon_. ---
**Author:** ![Algernon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a183cd/32.png) [@Algernon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algernon)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2002, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plural-of-maiden/139975/11 "2002-12-02T17:26:06Z")
Ahhhh… those years of German class so long ago in High School must haunt me yet **jjimm**. _shatner’s bassoon_??? Can you clarify this for me? I have no idea what it means (but it sure sounds funny). **twelfthsign** , I’ll try the free download. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2002, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plural-of-maiden/139975/12 "2002-12-02T17:36:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Algernon \* > \*\*_shatner’s bassoon_??? Can you clarify this for me? I have no idea what it means (but it sure sounds funny). Sorry, it was a total hijack that occurred to me after writing “a part of your brain”. The phrase comes from a UK satire (“media terrorism”) show called Brass Eye, where they got celebrities to make public service videos criticising a drug that didn’t even exist. One of the celebs was made to say “It targets a structure in the brain known as ‘Shatners Bassoon’ and that’s the part of the brain that deals with time perception”. The name of the organ is so absurd that nobody could believe that he’d actually said it on camera. ---
**Author:** ![everton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@everton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/everton)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2002, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plural-of-maiden/139975/13 "2002-12-02T17:37:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jjimm \* > \*\*This part of your brain is known as _shatner’s bassoon_. \*\* Stop it **jjimm** , you’ve been smoking that cake again haven’t you? Moose isn’t the only word that is the same in singular and plural, of course, but the others I can think of are all animals - flock of sheep, shoal of fish etc. Fish is one of those where the -es pluralisation is optional (hence “loaves and fishes” is right too). I’ve heard naturalists getting carried away with this usage and calling any group of animals by the singular form of their name instead of the plural. ---
**Author:** ![slortar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@slortar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slortar)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2002, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plural-of-maiden/139975/14 "2002-12-02T19:50:10Z")
Darn, I always thought the plural was “maidii”.