-ren

English

Etymology

Back-formation from children and brethren.

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

• This is the standard plural ending on some words like children which were inherited from earlier stages of English, but it was never a single suffix but a compound of two earlier plural suffixes: -re/-er + -en.

Derived terms

English terms suffixed with -ren

Anagrams

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