[Guest]

You may have noticed many occurrence where you begin with a singular word X, then append a letter to it to make it another word Y (plural), and then add still one more to make it Z (again singular). But could you think of any combination where Z is same as X?

[Guest]

I don't get it. Could you clarify? A word after adding two letters cannot stay literally the same, is it about the meaning?

[Aaryan]

a great idea. My only solution is:

PRINCE

PRINCES

PRINCESS

but that doesnt fulfull the requirements.

[plainglazed]

men - a subclass of humans with above average intelligence

mens - more than one such group

mensa - an international group whose members demonstrate exceptional intelligence

EDIT:

Edited May 14, 2011 by plainglazed

[fabpig]

men - a subclass of humans with above average intelligence

mens - more than one such group

mensa - an international group whose members demonstrate exceptional intelligence

EDIT:

mensal - of the table. Which is where I think pgs bits will end up when the womenfolk read the above.......

Edited May 14, 2011 by fabpig

[fabpig]

elite

elites

elitest

May not be quite right, but I think it's along those lines.

[plainglazed]

had thought something like:

tip - lean, tilt, sway, tumble

tips - not plural of the above tip definition but not really required from the OP though probably intended

tipsy - unsteady, tilted, askew

[Guest]

Z=X in the sense that they are referring to the same thing.

The one example that I know of goes even further:

1. Original word: P (singular)
   
2. Add a letter: Q (plural)
   
3. Add a letter: R (singular, same meaning as P)
   
4. Add a letter: S (plural, same meaning as Q)
   

[Guest]

Since I may not have access to net for next few days, here is the word I was referring to:

Pea, Peas, Pease, Peasen

[Aaryan]

Really? the third word means the same as the first???

[Guest]

third and fourth dont seem like real words

[Guest]

As, the title goes, it's trivial.

Here is what wikipedia has to say regarding Pease:

According to etymologists, the term pea was taken from the Latin pisum, which is the latinisation of the Greek πίσον (pison), neut. of πίσος (pisos), "pea". It was adopted into English as the noun pease (plural peasen), as in pease pudding. However, by analogy with other plurals ending in -s, speakers began construing pease as a plural and constructing the singular form by dropping the "s", giving the term "pea". This process is known as back-formation.

Edited May 16, 2011 by KlueMaster

[Guest]

Really? the third word means the same as the first???

pea

peas: (plural of pea)

pease: [archaic] - a pea; [archaic] plural of pease

peasen: [archaic] plural of pease

expo - an exposition

expos - plural of expo

exposé - an exposition