When did the plural of octopus become octopuses?
When “octopus” was first mentioned in the English language in the mid-1700s, it was pluralized as “octopuses.” That said, some grammarians wanted English to be like the less irregular Latin language, so they started putting Latin pluralizations on Latin-based English words, which led to “octopi.”
What is plural form of fish?
The plural of fish is usually fish. When referring to more than one species of fish, especially in a scientific context, you can use fishes as the plural. The zodiac sign Pisces is also often referred to as fishes.
Why is octopi wrong?
While “octopi” has become popular in modern usage, it’s wrong. The letter “i” as a suffix to indicate a plural noun only applies to words with Latin roots, like “cacti” for more than one cactus. But octopus is derived from Greek, so the proper pluralization in this case would be “odes” if it was ever used.
What is the plural form of mouse?
noun. \ ˈmau̇s \ plural mice\ ˈmīs \
What is plural form deer?
noun, plural deer, (occasionally) deers. any of several ruminants of the family Cervidae, most of the males of which have solid, deciduous antlers.
What is Goose plural?
noun. \ ˈgüs \ plural geese\ ˈgēs \
Why is octopus not plural octopi?
Why is the plural of octopus Octopus?
Octopuses is the next plural, which gives the word an English ending to match its adoption as an English word. Lastly, octopodes stems from the belief that because octopus is originally Greek, it should have a Greek ending.
How many tentacles does an octopus have?
The cephalopods do have eight tentacles and there may be three ways to describe a group of them, but only one is technically correct. Grammatically speaking, the plural for octopus is octopuses. As the Merriam-Webster dictionary points out, people use three different terms, however: octopi, octopuses, and octopodes.
Are octopodes and octopi wrong words?
The only way that we get to a position where octopodes is definitely “correct” and octopi is definitely “wrong” is by requiring a word coined in the 1700s to follow rules about ancient Latinized Greek plurals that were very inconsistent in ancient Latin, and are explicitly contradicted by similar words in both ancient Latin and Greek in this case.
What is the meaning of octopodes in Greek?
it labels octopodes “rare”, and notes that octopi derives from the mistaken assumption that octōpūs is a second declension Latin noun, which it is not. Rather, it is (Latinized) Ancient Greek, from oktṓpous ( ὀκτώπους ), gender masculine, whose plural is oktṓpodes ( ὀκτώποδες ).