DictionaryRoot: -s
English
-s
in a particular way or direction
Forms
- -s
- -es — An older fuller form of this English ending.
Origin
From the Old English ending used for possession and related relationships; some such forms developed into words describing time or manner.
Note
This historical ending is different from the ordinary plural -s, even though they now look alike.
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noun
trunks
TRUNKS/trˈʌŋks/
Shorts worn for swimming or other sports.
Etymology
The body-trunk or torso sense underlies this clothing name. Originally theatrical jargon for short breeches, trunks broadened to breeches generally and then came to denote short, close-fitting garments worn by swimmers and other athletes.
Related word entries
- always
- annals
- auspices
- backwards
- banns
- billiards
- blues
- bodice
- checkers
- cheers
- chintz
- credentials
- crossroads
- dregs
- ethics
- folks
- gallows
- giblets
- goods
- grits
- guts
- heroics
- jodhpurs
- manners
- marbles
- marksman
- masses
- means
- measles
- molasses
- morals
- mumps
- news
- nuptials
- odds
- oftentimes
- pantaloons
- pincers
- quarters
- quits
- regards
- savings
- shears
- shucks
- smithereens
- spectacles
- sundries
- taps
- teens
- thanks
- tights
- togs
- tongs
- trousers
- trunks
- vitals
- withers
- works