Did you know that you probably speak a bit of Latin? Who would’ve thought! English is made up of words from across the globe, and many are originally Latin words.
We can identify which words are Latin because they use similar suffixes to show their singular and plural forms; e.g., curriculum plural is curricula (or curriculums, to conform to the regular English plural form). Likewise, colloquium, symposium and addendum each ends in “-um” and “-a” as a singular/plural. Read our guides on Latin nouns to see the other patterns they use, and more.
What’s the plural of “deer” Aside from cliché phrases like carpe diem (“seize the day”), or shortened forms like i.e. and e.g., (which, by the… Read More »Words in English You Probably Didn’t Realize are Latin
Octopuses is most commonly accepted as the plural of this eight-limbed sea creature, the octopus.
Memorandum, which comes from Latin, is singular. Memoranda is plural for memorandum.
Criteria, which are a “standard or principle by which something is judged”, is a plural noun. Criterion is the singular of criteria.
Media (pl. n.) singular is medium, in most cases. Media can be used as a mass noun, or non-count noun, which only use singular noun forms.
Apex meaning, “the tip, point, or summit”, comes from Latin; originally, its plural is apices. Apexes has come to be accepted over time.
Stimulus, like other Latin nouns that have made it to Modern English (syllabus, locus, focus, radius,) uses -I as a plural noun, stimuli.
Bacteria is a plural noun, and comes from Latin. Bacterium is singular.
The singular of data is datum. Data is plural, and the more commonly used of the two.
