In this old thread from 2 years ago, there was a discission on why the plural of “die” is “dice.”
It occurred to me that, although the plural of the kind of “die” you roll at a craps table is “dice,” the plural of the kind of “die” you use to, say, mint coins, is “dies.”
So, why the two different plurals for two different words that are spelled and pronounced the same in the singular?
I can’t tell you why, but there are several words that fit this pattern:
Antenna: Plural is “antannae” for insects, “antennas” for the thing atop your TV.
Mouse: Plural “mice” for the animal, “mice” or “mouses” (I prefer the latter) for the computer device.
Maple Leaf: Maple leaves for actual tree leaves. Maple Leafs for the hockey team.
and there’s a bunch more that are slipping my mind at the moment…
I see what you mean, but I think that the ‘dice’ you roll (like ‘sheep’) is used both for singular and plural:
“Have you got my dice?”
“Roll the dice.”
Therefore ‘die’ is a shaping device and it’s plural is ‘dies’.
Not where I’m from. And not according to Merriam-Webster or dictionary.com. If I’m just rolling one of them, it’s a die. Two or more and they’re dice.
I can’t resist – I love the quote. (and it sorta responds to the question asked here) So from the earlier thread:
“Die (n): The singular of Dice. Rarely heard nowadays because there is a prohibitary proverb: ‘Never say Die.’
A Cube of Cheese no bigger than a die
May bait a trap to catch a straggling mie.”
– Ambrose Bierce The Devil’s Dictionary
Hence the old saying “…the die is cast” (signifying that circumstances have been set in motion toward an as yet unknown result).
And if the die was created by pouring liquid into a mold, “… the die-cast die is cast.”
Dies Irae for the little mouse.
Whereupon, the little mouse dies and goes to mouse-heaven.
Speaking of Canadian “Maple Leafs”, isn’t that also the plural of the Canadian gold bullion coin known as the Maple Leaf?
In the semiconductor industry “die” is often used as both the plural and singular. “Die,” in this case, means “chip.”
According to all the dictionaries I’ve checked (OED and Merriam-Webster Collegiate) they are the same word coming from the same root.
There appears to be no known reason why there are two different plural forms. The OED gives definition in two categories. Category I is for ‘die’ with the plural ‘dice’ and deals with all the words in the area of cubes with numbers on them as used in games of chance or casting lots. Category II is for ‘die’ with the plural ‘dies’ and deals with words in the area of things for stamping or casting shapes.
Citations for first use of both forms aren’t all that far apart in time.
Yes and no. It’s probably a lot more common for someone to say “How many good die were on that wafer?” but you do hear some folks say “How many good dice [or dies] on that wafer?” Not very often, but not undeard of either.
Actually, I think that refers to a die-cast molding. That is, once we’ve poured material to make something, it’s too late to change it.
A long time ago, my cousin brought up this very issue. In english, there is an ambiguity about both “die” and “cast”. Does the proverb mean that someone has already thrown the marked gambling cubes, or that a molding has already been made?
Fortunately, the original proverb wasn’t in english – Julius Caesar (and, I suppose, a great many others) said it in latin – “Alea jacta est”. And in latin, “alea” means the gambling-cube kind of “die”.