![]() Thanks to sephycloneno15 for the "playtpeese" recommendation. Photo courtesy of Thoughts to Avoid Homework To. That being said, I propose we follow the "goose"/"geese" model and call them "platypeese" just to be different and confuse people - because language is by nature messy, and in this case I think it's still not yet quite messy enough. That's probably not the only reason.)Īpparently, at least some people in Australia go the "sheep"/"sheep" route and don't change the word at all in the plural.īut the ACTUAL, proper way to pluralize the word - get this - is the same as for nearly all words in English: add "-es." That's right, the most accepted plural of the word is "platypuses." (Go ahead and check your dictionary and you'll see it's the first option listed.) There is no universally agreed plural for the word platypus. We might as well be speaking Greek and we should be ashamed of ourselves. Background Information They are one of the few species of mammals that are venomous. ![]() Those in the know about Greek like to end the plural in "-podes" ("platypodes," "octopodes") to make us feel smart - and yes, that includes me - even though it is so obscure that almost no one will understand what we are saying. What is the plural of platypus Answers: Platypods, Platipi, Platypuses, Who even CARES, GO PHINEAS AND FERB, Platypus, Platypodes, Well. Colloquially, platypi is also used for the plural, although this is pseudo-Latin. Meaning, pronunciation, picture, example sentences, grammar, usage notes, synonyms and. Platypuses are small, egg-laying mammals with webbed feet, duck-like bills and tails like beavers that live in Australia and Tasmania. Answer (1 of 4): Platypi is the most formally correct pluralization of platypus, however platypuses follows the more informal trend (that is quickly gaining acceptability) that regularizes Latin plurals that end in i. Scientists generally use platypuses, platypoda, or simply platypus. So, this is where it gets messy.įor Latin words ending in "-us," we would end the plural in "-i." So a lot of people do that for "platypus" and "octopus," despite "platypi" and "octopi" not really making any sense from a historical perspective. Definition of platypus noun in Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary. "platypus" is NOT a Greek word, it is a modern word that was constructed in a "neo-Latin" fashion to be used n English and other languages. ![]() The word "platypus" is constructed from two Greek roots: "platys" means "flat," and "-pus" is related to "-pod" meaning "foot." The plural ending of Greek words ending in both "-pus" and "-pod" is "-podes."
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