I am also pleased that you tackled a lot of technical words from engineering, physics, and mathematics: e.g. Mark, this is a very nice, very useful article. Referendums around the world: The growing use of direct democracy.
The Latin plural gerundive referenda, meaning “things to be referred”, necessarily connotes a plurality of issues.'”įrom page 1 of Butler, D., & Ranney, A.
“We speak of referendums, not referenda, on the advice of the editors of the Oxford English Dictionary: ‘Referendum is logically preferable as a plural form meaning ballots on one issue (as a Latin gerund referendum has no plural). (Though in many cases, I prefer to use the Latin, or French, or other foreign language version, regardless.) Thanks! I like that the more commonly used version is listed first. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Spelling category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below: Rhinoceros: rhinoceroses or rhinoceros or rhinoceri Phenomenon: phenomena or phenomenons AssortedĬherub: cherubim or cherubs (the former alternative applies to angels and the latter pertains to depictions of winged children or to cherubic-looking people) Terminus: termini or terminuses Words ending in on, plural -a or -ons Narcissus: narcissi or narcissuses or narcissus Hippopotamus: hippopotamuses or hippopotami Symposium: symposiums or symposia Words ending in us, plural -uses or -iĪlumnus/alumna: alumni or alumnae ( alumnus refers to a man and alumna to a woman, alumni pertains to men or to men and women and alumnae to women alumni is often employed in the singular, and alum/alums are used informally as gender-neutral singular and plural forms) Medium: mediums or media ( media is the correct alternative to refer to forms of expression or information or in biological contexts) Zoo: zoos Words ending in um, plural -a or -umsĪgendum: agenda or agendums ( agenda is almost invariably used in place of the singular form, and agendums is rare)ĭatum: data or datums ( data is often used as a mass noun, taking a singular verb and being substituted by a singular pronoun) Weirdo: weirdos Words ending in oo, plural -oos Virtuoso: virtuosos or virtuosi Words ending in o, plural -os or -oesĬalypso: calypsos or calypsoes (the former spelling pertains to either the flower or the music style, and the latter form applies only to the music form) Graffito: graffiti (the plural form is almost invariable used in place of the singular form) Matrix: matrices or matrixes Words ending in o, plural -os or -i
Ganglion: ganglia or ganglions Words ending in is, plural -es Plateau: plateaus or plateaux Words ending in ion, plural -ia Vortex: vortices or vortexes Words ending in eau, plural -eaus or -eauxīureau: bureaus or bureaux (the latter form is rare for this word and the other two in this category) Vertebra: vertebrae or vertebras ( vertebrae is sometimes incorrectly used to refer to a single vertebra) Words ending in ex, plural -exes or -ices Nebula: nebulae or nebulas: the former ending is employed in astronomy, and the latter applies in medical contexts Words ending in a, plural -s or -aeĪntenna: antennas or antennae (only antennae is correct for the sensory organs on animals antennas in more common in other contexts) When two or more alternatives are listed, the first is the more (or most) common. Here’s a guide to plural forms for Latin words, identifying, for more than a hundred nouns of Latin origin and a few similarly constructed terms from other languages, which ending among two or three alternatives is preferred for particular words or in which contexts various alternative forms are employed. Preference for Latin or English plural endings is inconsistent in similarly constructed words, as is the presence of alternative forms at all. Pluralization of Latin-based nouns is a complicated field.
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