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According to Google and Wiktionary both "attire" and "garb" have a plural noun of "attires" and "garbs", respectively. But how could you used either of these pluralised words in a sentence given they already represent a collection of things?

I can't say I've ever seen "attires" or "garbs" used anywhere. I've researched the 1933 Oxford English Dictionary and cannot find any mention of a plural for "attire" or "garb" (unless I'm being blind).

Mike was dressed in his best formal attire. ✔

Michelle wore military garb. ✔

Jack has a large collection of garbs. (?)

Sarah purchased several attires. (?)

The last two just don't seem right? How would you correctly use these words? Are there any significant real life examples?

Django Reinhardt
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    You should probably look up also other dictionaries. 1) https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/attire - 2) https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/grabs – user 66974 Aug 25 '22 at 09:46
  • Garb and attire are both mass nouns. The last two could be, for example, "Jack has a large collection of clothing" and "Sarah purchased several outfits." – Weather Vane Aug 25 '22 at 09:53
  • @WeatherVane Yes, obviously. the question is: How would you correctly use "garbs" and "attires" in a sentence. And are there any significant real life examples of such usage? – Django Reinhardt Aug 25 '22 at 09:56
  • As I said, they are mass nouns and I would not use them in the plural despite what google thinks. So I cannot give correct examples of plural use, and instead I offered other ways to phrase those sentences. Can you please add links to your Google and Wiktionary references? – Weather Vane Aug 25 '22 at 09:58
  • @WeatherVane Added references. I'd check the OED but Archive.org is down :( If there are no significant usage examples, then this might be a case where Google and Wikitionary are wrong... but I'd like to be sure. – Django Reinhardt Aug 25 '22 at 10:12
  • It is not Google itself, that's just the host: anyone can post (or edit) what they like on creative commons. In this case it conflicts with what proper dictionaries say. – Weather Vane Aug 25 '22 at 10:19
  • @WeatherVane If true, I think that's quite significant. Most people aren't aware that Google or Wiktionary can't always be trusted. They believe if it appears there then it must be well sourced. Strange that I happened to have found two examples of this. Want to put your conclusion in an answer? – Django Reinhardt Aug 25 '22 at 10:24
  • No, because it is a straight forward mainstream dictionary reference. "Most people aren't aware that xxx can't be trusted" vs "Don't believe everything you read". – Weather Vane Aug 25 '22 at 10:27
  • @WeatherVane Your answer would be your assertion: Garbs and attires are not commonly used, and may in fact be incorrect (with data to backup your argument). It sounds like you don't have conviction in what you're saying, though? – Django Reinhardt Aug 25 '22 at 10:40

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Attires is not normally used in the plural in modern English, but you can see older examples, e.g. from Francis Bacon (1561–1626), who uses the word to mean costumes or styles of dress:

Let the suits of the masquers be graceful, and such as become the person, when the vizors are off; not after examples of known attires; Turks, soldiers, mariners, and the like.

(Source: "Of Masques And Triumphs", Francis Bacon, via The Free Library from Farlex or Bartleby.)

While not used to refer to clothes, the plural garbs occurs in heraldry: garb is a heraldic term for a sheaf of wheat, and could have a plural in that context. (Reference is to "The Garden in Heraldry: From Field to Field", Metropolitan Museum of Art Cloisters Museum blog, New York, USA, March 11, 2011)

With both garb and attire it's obvious how the plural can be formed should you ever require one, but most people don't need it in the sense of clothes. Both garb and attire can also be used as verbs, in which case garbs/attires would be third person present tense forms, so the morphology of a plural noun would be expected to match that.

There are many questions on Stack Exchange exploring the subtleties of "uncountable" nouns that you can read, for example Is there a noun that doesn't have a plural in any of its forms?

Stuart F
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  • Excellent. Thanks, this makes sense. They are both actual words, but not commonly used for the reasons you describe. This is the danger of a quick ref dictionary trying to be wholly complete, I guess! – Django Reinhardt Aug 25 '22 at 10:41