en,
stamens_ or _stamina_: of _cherub, cherubs_ or _cherubim_; of _seraph,
seraphs_ or _seraphim_; of _beau, beaus_ or _beaux_; of _bandit, bandits_
or _banditti_. The regular forms are in general preferable. The Hebrew
plurals _cherubim_ and _seraphim_, being sometimes mistaken for singulars,
other plurals have been formed from them; as, "And over it the _cherubims_
of glory."--_Heb_. ix, 5. "Then flow one of the _seraphims_ unto
me."--_Isaiah_, vi, 6. Dr. Campbell remarks: "We are authorized, both by
use and by analogy, to say either _cherubs_ and _seraphs_, according to the
English idiom, or _cherubim_ and _seraphim_, according to the oriental. The
former suits better the familiar, the latter the solemn style. I shall add
to this remark," says he, "that, as the words _cherubim_ and _seraphim_ are
plural, the terms _cherubims_ and _seraphims_, as expressing the plural,
are quite improper."--_Phil. of Rhet._, p. 201.

OBS. 40.--When other parts of speech become nouns, they either want the
plural, or form it regularly,[158] like common nouns of the same endings;
as, "His affairs went on at _sixes_ and _sevens_."--_Arbuthnot_. "Some
mathematicians have proposed to compute by _twoes_; _others_, by _fours_;
_others_, by _twelves_."--_Churchill's Gram._, p. 81. "Three _fourths_,
nine _tenths_."--_Ib._, p. 230. "Time's _takings_ and _leavings_."--
_Barton_. "The _yeas_ and _nays_."--_Newspaper_. "The _ays_ and
_noes_."--_Ib._ "_Oes_ and _spangles_."--_Bacon_. "The _ins_ and the
_outs_."--_Newspaper_."--We find it more safe against _outs_ and
_doubles_."--_Printer's Gram._ "His _ands_ and his _ors_."--_Mott_. "One of
the _buts_."--_Fowle_. "In raising the mirth of _stupids_."--_Steele_.
"_Eatings, drinkings, wakings, sleepings, walkings, talkings, sayings,
doings_--all were for the good of the public; there was not such a things
as a secret in the town."--LANDON: _Keepsake_, 1833. "Her innocent
_forsooths_ and _yesses_."--_Spect._, No. 266.

"Henceforth my wooing mind shall be expressed
In russet _yeas_ and honest kersey _noes_."
--SHAK. See _Johnson's Dict., w. Kersey_.

GENDERS.

Genders, in grammar, are modifications that distinguish objects in regard
to sex.

There are three genders; the _masculine_, the _feminine_, and the _neuter_.

The _masculine gender_ is that which denotes persons or animals of the male
kind; as, _man, father, king_.

The _feminine gender_ is that which denotes persons or