-ren

Back-formation from children and brethren.

-ren

1. (chiefly nonstandard, humorous) Used to form the plural of nouns
   • 2006, Timothy White, Catch a fire: the life of Bob Marley:

     As Ciddy and child had slept soundly under Omeriah's roof, a group of young "kidren" playing outside sang a "ring song" […]

   • 2006, Alex Wheatle, Island songs:

     Unruly kidren would fling rockstone after him.

   • 2008, Douglas Sarine, Kent Nichols, The Ninja Handbook:

     This exercise will help you develop the skills to tell your ninja brethren (and sistren and thingren) apart. Simply match the name of each famous ninja with his/her/its deadly eyes.

• In Standard English, this suffix occurs only in children. Some non-standard uses can be found in dialects, such as calveren (“calves”), lambren (“lambs”), etc. In brethren and sistren, the suffix is -en, with the -r- coming from the stem of the word (brother, sister).

• -ern, -ner-, Ern, NRE, RNE, ern, ner