n.
Pronunciation: s after a voiceless consonant, z after a voiced consonant or a vowel
Function: noun plural suffix
Etymology: Middle English -es, -s, from Old English -as, nominative & accusative plural ending of some masculine nouns; akin to Old Saxon -os
― used to form the plural of most nouns that do not end in s, z, sh, ch, or postconsonantal y <head s > <book s > <boy s > <belief s >, to form the plural of proper nouns that end in postconsonantal y <Mary s >, and with or without a preceding apostrophe to form the plural of abbreviations, numbers, letters, and symbols used as nouns <MC s > <PhD' s > <4 s > <the 1940' s > <$ s > <B' s > ― compare 1 -ES