plus - Wiktionary, the free dictionary (original) (raw)

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

Proto-Indo-European *-yōs

English plus

Borrowed from Latin plūs (“more”).

plus

  1. And; sum of the previous one and the following one.
    Two plus two equals four.
    A water molecule is made up of two hydrogen atoms plus one of oxygen.
  2. (colloquial) With; having in addition.
    I've won a holiday to France plus five hundred euros in spending money!

arithmetic: sum

in addition to

plus

  1. And also; in addition; besides (which).
    Let's go home now. It's late, plus I'm not feeling too well.

plus (plural pluses or plusses)

  1. A positive quantity.
    • 2023 April 19, Pip Dunn, “Jack of all trades... and master of most”, in RAIL, number 981, page 57:
      But the pluses far outweigh the criticisms.
  2. An asset or useful addition.
    He is a real plus to the team.
    • 2000 July 6, N. R. Kleinfield, quoting Dog, “Guarding the Borders Of the Hip-Hop Nation”, in The New York Times‎[1], →ISSN, archived from the original on 20 April 2023:
      Look at Trife. He's got two felonies. That means he's finished in society. But he can rap. His two felonies, in rap, man, that's a plus.
    • 2021 February 2, Katharine Murphy, “Scott Morrison must heed the lesson of Donald Trump and slap down Craig Kelly”, in The Guardian‎[2], archived from the original on 27 April 2021:
      When Morrison mulls the pluses and minuses associated with rebuking Kelly for undermining the government’s public health messaging, the prime minister faces a genuine substantive dilemma, and that goes to the risks of amplification.
  3. (arithmetic) A plus sign: +.
  4. Abbreviation of LGBT+
    (Can we add an example for this sense?)

positive quantity

plus (not comparable)

  1. Being positive rather than negative or zero.
    −2 * −2 = +4 ("minus 2 times minus 2 equals plus four")
  2. Positive, or involving advantage.
    He is a plus factor.
  3. (physics) Electrically positive.
    A battery has both a plus pole and a minus pole.
  4. (postpositive, somewhat informal) (Of a quantity) Equal to or greater than; or more; upwards.
    The bus can fit 60 plus kids, but we only get 48.
  5. (postpostitive, informal) And more.
    • 1985 August 10, “Personal advertisement”, in Gay Community News, volume 13, number 5, page 13:
      Have you been to Brazil, Bhutan, or Botswana? Well, I haven't and I'm reday [_sic_] to go ― almost anywhere interesting actually. Warm, wise world traveler seeks equally exciting, self-sufficient soul for adventures plus.

being positive rather than negative or zero

positive, involving advantage

physics: electrically positive

plus (third-person singular simple present pluss or plusses, present participle plusing or plussing, simple past and past participle plused or plussed)

  1. (informal) To add; to subject to addition.
    • 1973, Australian Council for Educational Research, ACER research series - Issues 93-95, page 39:
      For him y is a unique number, like 7, but for the time being unknown — if one does the operation of 'plussing 4' one still has, as a result, a unique number even though one does not yet know what it is.
    • 1974, Control of Human Behavior: Behavior modification in education:
      The teacher observing the behavior of a child who is plussing or not-plussing is observing instances or not-instances of the concept of plussing.
  2. (often followed by 'up') To increase in magnitude.
    • 2006, Danny Fingeroth, Mike Manley, How to Create Comics: From Script to Print, →ISBN, page 48:
      I am doing a lot of writing here, plussing the script, adding sequences.
    • 2009, United States Congress House Committee on Homeland Security, The Direction and Viability of the Federal Protective Service:
      We are losing at the street level a number of officers, but we are plussing up deputy positions.
    • 2012, United States Congress House Committee on Armed Services Subcommittee on Military Personnel, Military Retirement Reform, page 24:
      And I believe that, if we can't recognize that in retirement, we ought to recognize it in plussing up hazardous duty pay, plussing up sea duty pay and all those other things that recognize people that don't punch out on Saturday, on Friday afternoon and go home, and just, you know, go day after day after day.
  3. To improve.
    • 1998, Nate Booth, Strategies for Fast-Changing Times, →ISBN, page 91:
      Coach Wooden didn't have to depend upon having the most talented players on his team because he could depend upon plussing to constantly make everyone better.
    • 2007, Howard Hendricks, Color Outside the Lines, →ISBN, page 123:
      Keep fooling around with it, improving it, and making it better. You know you have a unique factor when someone steals it. So keep the unique factor unique by constantly plussing it.
    • 2004, Pat Williams, Jim Denney, How to Be Like Walt: Capturing the Disney Magic Every Day of Your Life, →ISBN, page 154:
      He was a pioneer in plussing the artform of animated cartoons. He began by plussing Micky Mouse with sound, the plussing the Silly Symphonies with color. Walt plussed the skills of his artists by sending them to art school at his own expense.
  4. To provide critical feedback by giving suggestions for improvement rather than criticisms.
    • 2013, David Burkus, The Myths of Creativity, →ISBN:
      The animators and directors on the receiving end of the plussing don't necessarily have to accept and incorporate the feedback, but plussing provides a method to share criticisms in a way that makes it more likely that they will.
    • 2014, Steven Krupp, Paul J.H. Schoemaker, Winning the Long Game: How Strategic Leaders Shape the Future, →ISBN:
      Strategic leaders can adapt the US Army's after-action review and Pixar's plussing technique (where you build on ideas rather than critique and subtract) to show their teams how to learn from mistakes.
    • 2014, BusinessNews Publishing, Summary : Little Bets - Peter Sims, →ISBN:
      When people view the early drafts of ideas for their movies under development, they always use plussing to try and come up with suggestions for enhancements. Feedback is always given in an upbeat rather than a derogatory manner.
  5. (sales) To sell additional related items with an original purchase.
    • 1920, The Current Business Cyclopedia: Business Digest:
      Good will is also secured by plussing the original purchase with another article that goes appropriately with it.
    • 1986, Max Fallek, How to Set Up and Operate Your Own Law Practice:
      Plussing the original sale creates a win-win situation. The customer benefits because it often saves him the time necessary to run back to the store for overlooked items.
  6. (psychology) To frame in a positive light; to provide a sympathetic interpretation.
    • 1979, Douglas A. Puryear, Helping People in Crisis, page 87:
      Plussing is a technique for enhancing a positive atmosphere in the session, for diminishing hostility, and for raising self-esteem.
    • 1997, Bernard L. Bloom, Planned short-term psychotherapy: a clinical handbook, page 187:
      In addition to active listening as a general therapeutic strategy, Puryear identifies two specific techniques, plussing and paradox, that are used throughout the crisis intervention.
    • 2015, Kenneth France, Crisis Intervention, →ISBN, page 177:
      When plussing, the intervenor introduces novel viewpoints that can increase the self-esteem of both the attacker and the target.
  7. (social media, dated) To give a mark of approval on Google+.
    Coordinate term: like
    • 2012, Lee Odden, Optimize, →ISBN, page 111:
      How do you get others to add you or your brand to their circles? By creating and sharing useful content, commenting, plussing others' content and comments, and engaging with others on Google+.
    • 2014, Ed Catmull, Creativity, Inc., →ISBN, page 279:
      Everyone was plussing them or liking them or pinning them. The videos went viral.
  8. (homeopathy) To increase the potency of a remedy by diluting it in water and stirring.
    • 2005, B. Sahni, Transmission of Homoeo Drug Energy from Distance, →ISBN, page 188:
      On hearing this, plussing was done (all medicated water of the phial was thrown away and fresh distilled was added and 10 strokes were given) on the 13th February 1974.
    • 2007, Kate Birch, Vaccine Free Prevention and Treatment of Infectious Contagious Disease with Homeopathy, →ISBN:
      From the remaining water a second dilution can be prepared plussing it to the next slightly higher potency.
    • 2011, Kim Lane, Homeopathy for Home: Acute Illness & Injury Care, →ISBN, page 29:
      Plussing is used quite frequently in a patient who's quite sensitive or has an acute problem happening or needs to change his dose or need to take it over several days.
  9. (optometry) To increase a correction.
    • 1976, David M. Worthen, Perry S. Binder, The intraocular lens in perspective, →ISBN, page 2:
      No aspheric cataract spectacle lens designer has ever given the slightest thought to this 4 to 6 diopters of over-plussing for peripheral vision which is responsible for tremendous peripheral distortion, worse peripheral swim, worse false orientation, worse magnification, severe concave curvature of field ("The floor comes up at you"), increased ring scotoma size and increase jack-in-the-box phenomenon (the "horse-blinder effect") with unsafe walking and driving.

plus

  1. plus
    Antonym: minus
    Dva plus dva je čtyři. ― Two plus two equals four.

plus m inan or n

  1. plus

when masculine:

Indeclinable when neuter.

Borrowed from Latin plūs (“more”).

plus

  1. (arithmetic) plus
    Synonym: en
    Antonyms: min, minus
    Twee plus twee is vier. ― Two plus two is four.
  2. plus (having in addition)
    Synonym: en
    Antonym: minus

plus m (plural plussen, diminutive plusje n)

  1. plus sign; +
    Synonym: plusteken
  2. plus, advantage
    Synonyms: pluspunt, pro
    Antonyms: min, minus, minpunt, contra

Ultimately from Latin plūs (“more”). Doublet of pli and plu.

plus

  1. plus
    Antonym: minus
    Du plus du egalas kvar. ― Two plus two equals four.

From Latin plūs.

plus

  1. plus
    Synonym: (conjunction) ynnä
    Antonym: miinus

plus (not inflected)

  1. plus
    Antonym: miinus

Inherited from Middle French plus, from Old French plus, from Latin plus.

plus

  1. used to express the comparative and superlative of a following adjective or adverb
    1. more, -er (comparative)
      Elle est plus belle que sa cousine. ― She is more beautiful than her cousin.
      Le tien est beaucoup plus grand que le mien. ― Yours is much bigger than mine.
      Elle travaille plus vite que lui. ― She works more quickly than he does.
    2. (with the definite article) most, -est (superlative)
      Elle est la plus belle de la famille. ― She is the most beautiful of the family.
      Le tien est le plus grand que j'ai jamais vu. ― Yours is the biggest I have ever seen.
      Elle travaille le plus vite de tous. ― She works the most quickly of all.
  2. (modifying a verb) more, most (to a greater / the greatest extent)
    Je travaille plus en ce moment. ― I'm working more at the moment.
    Il m'aime le plus. ― He loves me most.
    1. (introducing a clause) the more ...
      Plus je travaille, plus je suis fatigué. ― The more I work, the more tired I am.
      Plus j'écoute, moins je comprends. ― The more I listen, the less I understand.
  3. (in pronominal function) more (a greater amount)
    Je veux faire plus. ― I want to do more.
    Plus doit être fait. ― More must be done.
    1. [with_ **de**] more of a following noun
      _Je veux faire plus de sport.       ― I want to do more sports.
      Elle a encore plus de chocolat. ― She has even more chocolate.
    2. [_with_ de or **que**] more than a following number or fraction
      Il y avait plus de 5000 spectateurs. ― There were more than 5000 spectators.
      Plus de la moitié reste. ― More than half is left.
    3. (after a noun and preceded by de) more, in addition
      Une heure de plus et il serait mort. ― One hour more and he would have died.
      Un kilo de plus, s'il vous plaît. ― One more kilo, please.
  4. (mathematics) plus
    Deux plus cinq font sept. ― Two plus five is seven.
  5. in negated sentences
    1. (usually with the particle ne) not ... any more, no more, no longer
      Elle ne travaille plus. ― She doesn’t work any more / She no longer works.
      Il n’y a plus de travail. ― There is no more work.
    2. (with the particle non) neither, not either
      Tu ne veux pas le faire et moi non plus.
      You don't want to do it and me neither / ... and neither do I.

plus m (invariable)

  1. plus, the symbol +

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

plus

  1. first/second-person singular past historic of plaire

plus m pl

  1. (nonstandard) masculine plural of plu

Learned borrowing from Latin plus.

plus

  1. (mathematics) plus, increased by
    Synonyms: und, (rare) mehr
    Antonyms: minus, weniger
    Fünf plus zehn ist fünfzehn.
    Five plus ten is fifteen.
  2. (mathematics) plus (UK), positive (US)
    Antonym: minus
    Minus fünf minus minus fünfzehn ist plus zehn.
    Minus five minus minus fifteen is plus ten.
  3. (education) plus (US) (slightly better than a given grade)
    Antonym: minus
    Ich hab ’ne Zwei plus in der Mathearbeit.
    I got a B plus on my math test.

plus (not comparable)

  1. more (used to form comparatives)

le plus

  1. the most (used to form superlatives)

From Old Latin plous, from Proto-Italic *plēōs (after being levelled in favour of the neuter *plowis), from Proto-Indo-European *pleh₁-, *pelh₁u- (“many”). Cognate with Ancient Greek πολύς (polús, “many”), Old English feolo (“much, many”). More at fele. The adverb is an adverbial accusative.

plūs (comparative, neuter **plūs); third declension

  1. comparative degree of multus (“many”)
    1. (in the plural) more (in quantity)
      Antonyms: paucior, minus multus
      • 165 BCE, Publius Terentius Afer, Hecyra 281:
        Nemini plura acerba credo esse ex amore homini umquam oblata / quam mi.
        * 2001 translation by John Barsby
        I don't believe anyone has ever had more anguish inflicted on him by love than I have.
      • 16 BCE, Ovidius, Amores 3.6.63-64:
        Ilia, pone metus! / tu centum aut plures inter dominabere nymphas; / nam centum aut plures flumina nostra tenent.
        * 1914 translation by Grant Showerman, revised by G. P. Goold
        Ilia, lay aside thy fears! Thou shalt be mistress among a hundred nymphs, or more; for a hundred, or more, are the nymphs that dwell in my stream.
    2. (in the plural) several, many
      • c. 4 BCE – 65 CE, Seneca Minor, Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium 1.2.5:
        Hoc ipse quoque faciō: ex plūribus quae lēgī, aliquid apprehendō.
        This I myself also do: from the many [things] which I have read, I obtain something [to reflect upon].
      • c. 56 CE – 117 CE, Tacitus, Annals 3.34.25:
        Vix praesenti custodia manere inlaesa coniugia: quid fore si per pluris annos in modum discidii oblitterentur?
        (please add an English translation of this quotation)
    3. (in the singular, New Latin) more, additional
      Synonym: largior
      • 1618, Isaac Beeckman, Journal, page 106 recto; quoted in Charles Adam and Paul Tannery, Œuvres de Descartes, Paris: Léopold Cerf, 1908, page 221, footnote c:
        Eodem modo quo spatium multiplicatur, etiam impedimentum multiplicatur, si intelligas in aere vel aqua, id est in pleno, quicquam cadere. Res enim cadens descibit figuram oblongam, lineis omnibus parallelam; cùm res secundâ horâ velocius cadit, plusque spacij percurrat, ea est proportio figuræ quam primâ horâ describit ad eam quam describit secundâ horâ, ut spacium primâ horâ peragratum ad secundâ horâ peragratum. Si igitur res cadens ab impedimento non impediretur, tanto pluri aeri secundâ horâ occurreret, quanto majus est secundæ horæ paralelipipedum, quàm primæ horæ.
        (please add an English translation of this quotation)
      • 1764, Francisco Puente, Ars Hippocratica, vel Hippocrates Extractus a Practico Celtibero, page 20:
        Sudor multus ex somno factus sine causa manifesta, corpus uti plure cibo significat; si autem non, evacuatione indiget.
        Much sweat made in sleep without a clear cause means that the body uses more food; but if not, it needs evacuation.

Irregular third-declension comparative adjective, plural-only in Classical Latin.

1None of the singular forms are used as adjectives in Classical Latin.

plūs (neuter **plūs); third-declension neuter pronoun

  1. more; more of
    Synonym: amplius
    Antonym: minus
    • 84 BCE, Cicero, De inventione 1.88:
      "Cum dicebas: Si indigetis pecuniae, pecuniam non habetis, hoc intellegebam: Si propter inopiam in egestate estis, pecuniam non habetis, et idcirco concedebam; cum autem hoc sumebas: Indigetis autem pecuniae, illud accipiebam: Vultis autem pecuniae plus habere. Ex quibus concessionibus non conficitur hoc: Pauperes igitur estis; conficeretur autem, si tibi primo quoque hoc concessissem, qui pecuniam maiorem vellet habere, eum pecuniam non habere."
      * 1949 translation by H. M. Hubbell
      "When you said, 'If you want money, you do not have money,' I understood it to mean, 'If on account of poverty you are in extreme want, you do not have money,' and therefore I granted the point; when, however, you said, 'You do want money,' I took that to mean 'You do want to have more money.' From this admission it does not follow that you are poor. It would follow, if at first I had made this admission also, 'Whoever wishes to have more money, does not have money.'"
    • 27 BCE – 25 BCE, Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita 7.41:
      Itaque cum hoc unum propter Salonium ab senatu non impetraretur, tum Salonius obtestatus patres conscriptos ne suum honorem pluris quam concordiam civitatis aestimarent, perpulit ut id quoque ferretur.
      * 1924 translation by B. O. Foster
      And so, when this one provision would have failed of enactment by the senate, out of consideration for Salonius, he himself besought the Fathers not to think more highly of his distinction than of harmony in the state, and induced them to pass this also.
    • 4 CE – c. 70 CE, Columella, De Arboribus 10.4.6:
      Sed quaecumque in clivis erunt positae, ita ablaqueandae sunt, ut a superiore parte secundum codicem lacusculi fiant, ab inferiore autem pulvilli altiores excitentur, quo plus aquae limique contineant.
      * 1955 translation by E. S. Forster, Edward H. Heffner
      But any vines which are planted on slopes must be trenched in such a way that pools may be formed on the higher ground next the stem, and ridges raised to a greater height on the lower ground, so as to contain more water and mud.
    • 1271 – 1272, Thomas Aquinas, In decem libros Ethicorum expositio book 8.lectio 13.n. 7:
      Illi enim qui utuntur se invicem ad utilitatem, semper pluri indigent quam eis detur, et existimant quod minus recipiant quam eis conveniat.
      For those who use each other for benefit always want more than is given to them, and think that they receive less than is suitable for them.

Third-declension pronoun (neuter, i-stem, no dative singular, ablative singular in -e or occasionally -ī), singular only.

plūs (comparative)

  1. comparative degree of multō (“by much, by far”): further (more in extent)
    Synonym: magis (magis indicates more in degree' )
    Plus ultra! = "Further beyond!" (this is the national motto of Spain)
  1. ^ Fischer, Gustavus (1897), Latin Grammar Together with a Systematic Treatment of Latin Composition, page 210
  2. ^ Hime, Maurice C. (1890), An Introduction to the Latin Language..., page 279
  3. ^ Andrews, E. A.; Stoddard, S. (1851), A Grammar of the Latin Language; for the Use of Schools and Colleges., 18th edition, page 59

Inherited from Old French plus, from Latin plūs.

plus

  1. more

Excerpt from the Oxford manuscript of The Song of Roland. The final three words are 'plus de mil'.

From Latin plūs.

plus

  1. (with de) more than

From Latin plūs.

plus

  1. more

plus m inan

  1. plus, plus sign
    Antonym: minus

Borrowed from Latin plūs. First attested in the early 19th century, acquiring non-mathematical senses by the middle of that century.

plus

  1. plus, and

plus n (plural plusuri)

  1. plus, addition, extra, surplus

Borrowed from Latin plūs (“more”).

plus m (plural pluses)

  1. bonus (extra earnings)
  2. plus (addition to what is considered habitual)

plus

  1. (mathematics) and, plus

plus n

  1. plus sign
  2. benefit, advantage