Pairs

How to spell pairs

5 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce pairs

What does pairs mean?

1. nounMore than one set of two matching or associated things.
2. verbJoins or matches one thing with another to form a set of two.

Pairs in a sentence

• noun

  She packed three pairs of socks for the trip.

• verb

  The sommelier pairs each course with a suitable wine.

• noun

  The shop sells reading glasses in cheap pairs.

• verb

  The app automatically pairs your phone with the speaker.

Where does pairs come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word descends from the Latin paria, the neuter plural of par, which meant 'equal' and was used as a noun for things that come in equal sets of two. It travelled into English through Old French paire during the 1200s, originally describing two matching or equal items considered together. The same par root for 'equal' still lives openly in everyday words such as 'parity', 'compare', and the golf term 'par'. Over time English used pair for both natural couples (a pair of hands) and manufactured sets (a pair of scissors). The spelling trap is that pairs sounds identical to 'pears' (the fruit) and 'pares' (trims away), so only the meaning of 'equal sets of two' fixes the ai spelling here.

How the word is built

• pair (a set of two)
• -s (plural / third-person verb ending)