Read along with the three podcasts, or open the full dictionary entry for Plus for the definition, Arabic meaning, synonyms and example sentences.
Narrator: Today's word is "plus" — preposition, pronounced /plʌs/, with the stress on "plus", the single syllable.
Narrator: Plus means with the addition of something, joining one amount or item to another.
Narrator: In plain English, it is the little word you use when you add one thing to another, as in two plus two, or a salary plus a bonus.
Narrator: It comes straight from Latin, where plus simply meant more, and it entered English mathematics in the fifteenth century as the name of the addition sign.
Narrator: A common collocation is plus point, describing an advantage or a benefit that tips a decision in something's favour.
Narrator: It differs from and, because and merely links two ideas as equals, while plus suggests one thing is being added on top of an existing total.
Narrator: Figuratively, plus works as an adjective in grades and figures, as in a B plus, or a temperature of plus five degrees, meaning above the baseline.
Narrator: Mathematics, accounting, engineering, marketing and software interfaces all rely on it, from spreadsheet formulas to product names like phone models with plus in the title.
Narrator: So remember: plus adds, upgrades and improves, whether you are counting numbers or counting advantages.
Speaker A: Why does such a tiny word like plus turn up absolutely everywhere, from sums to phone names?
Speaker B: Because PLUS comes from the Latin word for more, and more is something every culture wants, so it slipped from arithmetic into everyday speech and then into marketing.
Speaker A: So it started life purely as a mathematical sign?
Speaker B: Exactly right, it named the addition symbol first, then became a preposition, a conjunction, a noun and even an adjective.
Speaker A: Example sentences?
Speaker B: "The rent is eight hundred pounds a month, plus bills." That means bills come on top. "She speaks French and German, plus a little Italian." There it adds an extra item. "Working from home has its plusses." There it is a noun meaning advantages.
Speaker A: Common mistakes?
Speaker B: Plus is not a full conjunction in formal writing, so avoid starting a sentence with it in a report, and remember the noun plural is spelled plusses or pluses, never plus's.
Speaker A: Close relatives?
Speaker B: Its cousin is and, its twin in maths is added to, and a useful alternative is as well as, though plus keeps its brisk, upbeat charm!
Speaker B: Let's use "plus" in AI prompts — useful for pricing pages that list a base tier plus add-ons, and for calculator features that total values.
Speaker A: How would that apply to a pricing page?
Speaker B: Ask the model to make the additions explicit.
Prompt: Write pricing copy for three subscription tiers where each tier is described as the previous tier plus two named extra features.
Speaker A: And for a calculator component?
Speaker B: Here the word governs the arithmetic logic.
Prompt: Generate a JavaScript function that returns the subtotal plus tax plus shipping and rounds the result to two decimal places.
Speaker A: What about form validation?
Speaker B: Use it to define a combined character budget.
Prompt: Write a validation rule that rejects a form when the first name plus the surname exceeds sixty characters in total.
Speaker A: One more?
Speaker B: Let's end with release notes for an upgraded product edition.
Prompt: Draft release notes for our Plus edition explaining that it includes everything in the standard plan plus priority support and unlimited storage.
Plus — meaning in Arabic & definition More P courses GL Dictionary