diff --git a/lib/i18n/backend/pluralization.rb b/lib/i18n/backend/pluralization.rb
index b6026571..dbdc81d8 100644
--- a/lib/i18n/backend/pluralization.rb
+++ b/lib/i18n/backend/pluralization.rb
@@ -16,26 +16,49 @@ module Backend
     module Pluralization
       # Overwrites the Base backend translate method so that it will check the
       # translation meta data space (:i18n) for a locale specific pluralization
-      # rule and use it to pluralize the given entry. I.e. the library expects
+      # rule and use it to pluralize the given entry. I.e., the library expects
       # pluralization rules to be stored at I18n.t(:'i18n.plural.rule')
       #
       # Pluralization rules are expected to respond to #call(count) and
-      # return a pluralization key. Valid keys depend on the translation data
-      # hash (entry) but it is generally recommended to follow CLDR's style,
-      # i.e., return one of the keys :zero, :one, :few, :many, :other.
+      # return a pluralization key. Valid keys depend on the pluralization
+      # rules for the locale, as defined in the CLDR.
+      # As of v41, 6 locale-specific plural categories are defined:
+      #   :few, :many, :one, :other, :two, :zero
       #
-      # The :zero key is always picked directly when count equals 0 AND the
-      # translation data has the key :zero. This way translators are free to
-      # either pick a special :zero translation even for languages where the
-      # pluralizer does not return a :zero key.
+      # n.b., The :one plural category does not imply the number 1.
+      # Instead, :one is a category for any number that behaves like 1 in
+      # that locale. For example, in some locales, :one is used for numbers
+      # that end in "1" (like 1, 21, 151) but that don't end in
+      # 11 (like 11, 111, 10311).
+      # Similar notes apply to the :two, and :zero plural categories.
+      #
+      # If you want to have different strings for the categories of count == 0
+      # (e.g. "I don't have any cars") or count == 1 (e.g. "I have a single car")
+      # use the explicit `"0"` and `"1"` keys.
+      # https://unicode-org.github.io/cldr/ldml/tr35-numbers.html#Explicit_0_1_rules
       def pluralize(locale, entry, count)
         return entry unless entry.is_a?(Hash) && count
 
         pluralizer = pluralizer(locale)
         if pluralizer.respond_to?(:call)
-          key = count == 0 && entry.has_key?(:zero) ? :zero : pluralizer.call(count)
-          raise InvalidPluralizationData.new(entry, count, key) unless entry.has_key?(key)
-          entry[key]
+          # "0" and "1" are special cases
+          # https://unicode-org.github.io/cldr/ldml/tr35-numbers.html#Explicit_0_1_rules
+          if count == 0 || count == 1
+            value = entry[symbolic_count(count)]
+            return value if value
+          end
+
+          # Lateral Inheritance of "count" attribute (http://www.unicode.org/reports/tr35/#Lateral_Inheritance):
+          # > If there is no value for a path, and that path has a [@count="x"] attribute and value, then:
+          # > 1. If "x" is numeric, the path falls back to the path with [@count=«the plural rules category for x for that locale»], within that the same locale.
+          # > 2. If "x" is anything but "other", it falls back to a path [@count="other"], within that the same locale.
+          # > 3. If "x" is "other", it falls back to the path that is completely missing the count item, within that the same locale.
+          # Note: We don't yet implement #3 above, since we haven't decided how lateral inheritance attributes should be represented.
+          plural_rule_category = pluralizer.call(count)
+          value = entry[plural_rule_category] || entry[:other]
+          return value if value
+
+          raise InvalidPluralizationData.new(entry, count, plural_rule_category)
         else
           super
         end
@@ -43,13 +66,23 @@ def pluralize(locale, entry, count)
 
       protected
 
-        def pluralizers
-          @pluralizers ||= {}
-        end
+      def pluralizers
+        @pluralizers ||= {}
+      end
 
-        def pluralizer(locale)
-          pluralizers[locale] ||= I18n.t(:'i18n.plural.rule', :locale => locale, :resolve => false)
-        end
+      def pluralizer(locale)
+        pluralizers[locale] ||= I18n.t(:'i18n.plural.rule', :locale => locale, :resolve => false)
+      end
+
+      private
+
+      # Normalizes categories of 0.0 and 1.0
+      # and returns the symbolic version
+      def symbolic_count(count)
+        count = 0 if count == 0
+        count = 1 if count == 1
+        count.to_s.to_sym
+      end
     end
   end
 end
diff --git a/test/backend/pluralization_test.rb b/test/backend/pluralization_test.rb
index d955818e..c49b492c 100644
--- a/test/backend/pluralization_test.rb
+++ b/test/backend/pluralization_test.rb
@@ -9,16 +9,22 @@ class Backend < I18n::Backend::Simple
   def setup
     super
     I18n.backend = Backend.new
-    @rule = lambda { |n| n == 1 ? :one : n == 0 || (2..10).include?(n % 100) ? :few : (11..19).include?(n % 100) ? :many : :other }
+    @rule = lambda { |n| n % 10 == 1 && n % 100 != 11 ? :one : n == 0 || (2..10).include?(n % 100) ? :few : (11..19).include?(n % 100) ? :many : :other }
     store_translations(:xx, :i18n => { :plural => { :rule => @rule } })
-    @entry = { :zero => 'zero', :one => 'one', :few => 'few', :many => 'many', :other => 'other' }
+    @entry = { :"0" => 'none', :"1" => 'single', :one => 'one', :few => 'few', :many => 'many', :other => 'other' }
   end
 
   test "pluralization picks a pluralizer from :'i18n.pluralize'" do
     assert_equal @rule, I18n.backend.send(:pluralizer, :xx)
   end
 
-  test "pluralization picks :one for 1" do
+  test "pluralization picks the explicit 1 rule for count == 1, the explicit rule takes priority over the matching :one rule" do
+    assert_equal 'single', I18n.t(:count => 1, :default => @entry, :locale => :xx)
+    assert_equal 'single', I18n.t(:count => 1.0, :default => @entry, :locale => :xx)
+  end
+
+  test "pluralization picks :one for 1, since in this case that is the matching rule for 1 (when there is no explicit 1 rule)" do
+    @entry.delete(:"1")
     assert_equal 'one', I18n.t(:count => 1, :default => @entry, :locale => :xx)
   end
 
@@ -30,15 +36,22 @@ def setup
     assert_equal 'many', I18n.t(:count => 11, :default => @entry, :locale => :xx)
   end
 
-  test "pluralization picks zero for 0 if the key is contained in the data" do
-    assert_equal 'zero', I18n.t(:count => 0, :default => @entry, :locale => :xx)
+  test "pluralization picks explicit 0 rule for count == 0, since the explicit rule takes priority over the matching :few rule" do
+    assert_equal 'none', I18n.t(:count => 0, :default => @entry, :locale => :xx)
+    assert_equal 'none', I18n.t(:count => 0.0, :default => @entry, :locale => :xx)
+    assert_equal 'none', I18n.t(:count => -0, :default => @entry, :locale => :xx)
   end
 
-  test "pluralization picks few for 0 if the key is not contained in the data" do
-    @entry.delete(:zero)
+  test "pluralization picks :few for 0 (when there is no explicit 0 rule)" do
+    @entry.delete(:"0")
     assert_equal 'few', I18n.t(:count => 0, :default => @entry, :locale => :xx)
   end
 
+  test "pluralization does Lateral Inheritance to :other to cover missing data" do
+    @entry.delete(:many)
+    assert_equal 'other', I18n.t(:count => 11, :default => @entry, :locale => :xx)
+  end
+
   test "pluralization picks one for 1 if the entry has attributes hash on unknown locale" do
     @entry[:attributes] = { :field => 'field', :second => 'second' }
     assert_equal 'one', I18n.t(:count => 1, :default => @entry, :locale => :pirate)