Pair and Other Words Meaning Two - DailyWritingTips |
Posted: 20 Feb 2014 08:31 PM PST
A reader wonders about the word pair to describe singular objects:
I wish I could come up with some really obscure reason for the fact that modern speakers talk about “a pair of scissors” and “a pair of stockings,” but fourteenth century English speakers were already speaking of tools that had two joined parts–like shears–as pairs.
The earliest meaning of the word pair was “two things of the same type which ordinarily or necessarily are found together.”
By the 17th century, pair had acquired the following meanings:
The of that follows pair in modern English was often omitted in Middle English and in early Modern English. For example, one spoke of “a pair socks” and “a pair gloves.” This change is especially interesting in light of the current trend to drop of aftercouple, another word that means “two things.” (See the comments on my post The Quasi-adjective Couple)
Another change in the use of pair has to do with the plural. In the not-so-distant past, the singular was used after a numeral: “three pair shoes,” but now, as in the headline that launched this discussion, we use the plural: “looking to buy 180,000 pairs of grey, lightweight underwear…”
Here are a few more words that convey the idea of two:
brace double duet duo duplet dyad twain twice twin two twosome |
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