Tagged Questions
-2
votes
1answer
66 views
How do you pluralize “cuirass”? [closed]
I've had a hard time finding the plural form of the word "cuirass". I know it's a Latin word, but is there any common English (or Latin) pluralization?
0
votes
4answers
223 views
Plural form of Octopus and Radius [duplicate]
I have recently found this video online from Merriam Webster saying the plural form of octopus is in fact octopuses. The video explains how octopus comes from the Greek language and thus it would be ...
8
votes
5answers
1k views
Is “et al.” used as a singular or plural subject?
When referring to multiple authors by using the name of the first author and "et al.", is it correct to grammatically treat this as one person or multiple persons?
Gamma et al. are saying in their ...
1
vote
3answers
145 views
What is the correct possessive genitive for “media”?
I hope I've used the right terms in the title; I'm not a native speaker.
The singular of media is of course medium. So when talking about one medium's content, the genitive s and apostrophe are easy ...
5
votes
2answers
164 views
Plural of “Animus/Anima”
What is the plural of the words “animus” and “anima”? In any context (literary, Jung psychology, apothecary etc.). Is there English v. Latin differences? Interwebs are no help: versions differ from ...
3
votes
1answer
61 views
How do you refer to a member of a biological taxon in the singular?
If I wish to refer to, say, an Owl in the more generic form as a member of the biological order Strigiformes, what is the correct modification of the apparently plural word into a singular form?
For ...
3
votes
1answer
207 views
Is the singular form of “desiderata” a disused word?
I was interested in the following paragraph which appeared in an article titled “A New Gauge to See What’s Beyond Happiness" by John Tierney in The New York Times (May 16, 2011).
“They wanted to ...
1
vote
1answer
856 views
What is the proper plural of “a series”? [closed]
In math, we use the term series a lot, and there are many types of series.
How should I craft my sentence when I have three different ones in mind to talk about? Should I settle down for a less ...
13
votes
4answers
390 views
When do I use -i for expressing the plural of a word?
I've never been certain of the rules surrounding the use of the -i suffix for pluralizing a word. I had thought that it was used for any word whose singular ended in an 's', but that doesn't appear to ...
8
votes
5answers
556 views
Plurals of “infimum” and “supremum”
The words infimum and supremum are technical terms in mathematics. Should their plurals be infima and suprema or infimums and supremums?
3
votes
1answer
291 views
“Mutexes” or “mutices”? [closed]
When we create new words ending in -ex (mutex being short for mutual exclusion), should we (may we?) use the Latin plural form because the suffix is similar to the latin suffix -ex?
(Personally I've ...
0
votes
4answers
5k views
What is the correct plural of “stadium”? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Which style of Latin plurals should I use?
If my memory of Latin lessons serves me correctly, it should really be
stadia
However, I think most people would ...
5
votes
2answers
200 views
What is the origin of the pluralization “virii”?
However wrong it may be, lots of people have pluralized virus as virii. I'd understand viri, but what misconception could lead one to write virii?
2
votes
4answers
471 views
How is “e.g.” pluralized?
How is "e.g." pluralized? Usually I just see "e.g." used regardless of the number of examples given, but I don't know if that's correct or merely a product of widespread ignorance. More rarely, I've ...
5
votes
3answers
468 views
Rules for forming adjectives from Latin nouns
I read a paper today that kept using "multistrata" to describe an object with multiple layers. For example:
I love multistrata cakes.
This sounds wrong to my ear, I think "multistratum" sounds ...
3
votes
4answers
2k views
Two octopi? What's the proper plural? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Octopuses, octopi, or octo?
What is the "proper" plural of "octopus"? A web search turns up three candidates, but is there a "right" answer?
8
votes
4answers
10k views
What is the plural of “scenario”?
What is the plural of "scenario"? I have always used "scenarios", but have recently come across "scenaria" and "scenarii". Should I be treating it as an Italian or Latin word?
15
votes
5answers
835 views
Which style of Latin plurals should I use?
Many Latin words in English have both Latin-style plurals and English-style plurals:
referendum – referendums, referenda.
minimum – minimums, minima.
gymnasium – gymnasiums, gymnasia.
...
6
votes
2answers
1k views
30
votes
7answers
3k views
