![]() ‘Ignoramus’ is an interesting word because it does come from Latin, but the plural does not. Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter! This octopus prefers to be called ‘Frank’, but that’s just him. To avoid the Latin/Greek controversy, though, you could just use ‘octopuses’ instead! Luckily, English is a fairly free and easy language these days, so both ‘octopi’ and ‘octopodes’ are acceptable spellings. But this is a false etymology: ‘octopus’ comes from Greek, so the correct plural would be ‘octopodes’. ![]() Since ‘octopus’ ends in a ‘-us’, most people assume it comes from Latin and spell the plural ‘octopi’. And while we’ve looked at some of the rules about irregular plurals previously, here we’re going to examine some tricky Latin and Greek plurals in more detail, starting with our tentacled friends… 1. ending in ‘-s’ or ‘-es’) or irregular (i.e. In other words, the plural forms of Latin and Greek words can often be either regular (i.e. Do you ever really need more than one abacus, though? The plural of ‘abacus’, for instance, can also be spelled ‘abacuses’. And modern English frequently has conventional plurals for Latin and Greek terms. However, most English plurals are formed by adding ‘-s’ or ‘-es’. And since ‘-us’ word endings in Latin change to ‘-i’ in the plural, the English plural can be spelled ‘abaci’. As a result, some still follow Latin or Greek spelling rules when forming a plural. Many English words come from Latin or Greek. And not knowing whether to call them ‘octopuses’ or ‘octopi’ is a recipe for social awkwardness.īut is one correct? Or is it a matter of preference? And has anyone asked an octopus? Let’s look at some tricky Latin and Greek plurals to find out. It’s also because, like many words with Latin or Greek origins, ‘octopus’ has more than one plural in English. And this isn’t just because our cephalopod friends are shapeshifting, super-powered geniuses. Octopuses or Octopi? (Tricky Latin and Greek Plurals)īeing around more than one octopus can be stressful.
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