-ren

See also: Appendix:Variations of "ren"

English

Etymology

Back-formation from children and brethren, ultimately from Middle English -ren, -eren (compounded plural ending), from Middle English -re, -ere (from Old English -ru (plural ending)) Middle English -en (from Old English -an (plural ending)).

Suffix

-ren

1. (chiefly nonstandard, humorous) Used to form the plural of nouns
   • 2006, Timothy White, Catch a fire: the life of Bob Marley:

     As Ciddy and child had slept soundly under Omeriah's roof, a group of young "kidren" playing outside sang a "ring song" […]

   • 2006, Alex Wheatle, Island songs:

     Unruly kidren would fling rockstone after him.

   • 2008, Douglas Sarine, Kent Nichols, The Ninja Handbook:

     This exercise will help you develop the skills to tell your ninja brethren (and sistren and thingren) apart. Simply match the name of each famous ninja with his/her/its deadly eyes.

Usage notes

• In Standard English, this suffix occurs only in children. Some non-standard uses can be found in dialects, such as calveren (“calves”), lambren (“lambs”), etc. In brethren and sistren, the suffix is -en, with the -r- coming from the stem of the word (brother, sister).

Derived terms

English terms suffixed with -ren

Anagrams

• ner, NER, NRE, ern, -ern, RNE, ENR, -ner-, Ern

Japanese

Romanization

-ren

1. Rōmaji transcription of れん