Talk:deceased

the deceased: the particular dead person or persons referred to. 2. dead persons collectively. Is this distinction (particular vs collectively, unlike decedant/dead) worth mentioning? --Backinstadiums (talk) 09:36, 26 November 2020 (UTC)
 * Recurring question. My opinion is this: 1.) Using adjectives as plural nouns with the definite article (and to a lesser degree with determiners) is a general grammatical function in English. It is restricted only semantically (e.g. to adjectives which can describe people), but not lexically. So this is not mentionable. 2.) Use as a countable singular is lexicalised and therefore should be mentioned. -- In this case, option 2 is possible, as e.g. in: "One deceased was a woman, the other a man". 188.96.64.40 21:05, 22 September 2021 (UTC)