singular form

1.8

The form of a word used for one person or thing

noun
/ˈsɪŋɡjələr fɔrm/

Specialized

: forma singular

We were taught to memorize the genitive singular form because you can't predict from the nominative singular what the other forms will be.

Examples

Here it's hit Neuter, masculine and genitive singular forms are the same.
In English, the singular form of a noun refers to just one item, like 'book' instead of 'books'.
When learning a new language, it is important to understand how to use the singular form correctly.
The teacher explained that each noun has a singular form, which indicates only one person or thing.

Synonyms

singular

vssingular form

Specialized

1 3.5

A word form for one person or thing

is the multiword phrase naming that same grammatical form

Antonyms

plural form

Specialized

3.7

One translation used for different numbers, like one or many

Surface Forms

singular singular

singulars plural

Morphology

singular + form

The meaning 'the form used to refer to one' is directly and compositionally derived from 'singular' (one) + 'form' (shape/variant of a word). This grammatical combination is cross-linguistically common and follows straightforward semantic composition, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily understand the MWE.

Etymology

Singular form comes from an old Latin word meaning 'one'. The parts singular and form literally mean the word form used for a single person or thing, so it names the form we use when there is 'one' rather than 'many'.