Plural of 'abbe,' referring to multiple French clergymen or men holding the title of abbé; sometimes used as an alternate spelling.
From French 'abbés' (plural), derived from singular 'abbé.' The English adoption of this French plural form shows how the word was borrowed wholesale from French usage.
When English borrowed 'abbe' from French, we kept the French pronunciation and even sometimes the French plural form 'abbes,' though we also created the English plural 'abbés'—showing how borrowed words exist in a kind of linguistic limbo, not quite native to either language.
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