![]() So next time, go easy on the internet stranger in the comments who has just written octopuses-they're not wrong. octopus, octopuses, octopi octopodes octopii rhinoceros, rhinoceros, rhinoceroses rhinoceri rhinocerotes walrus, walruses, walrus walrusses walri walrii. ( Octopi is also a valid Scrabble word.) As the dictionary advises, "If you're interested in choosing the word that is most likely to be considered correct and understandable by your audience you would do well to opt for either octopuses or octopi." However, both Merriam-Webster and the Oxford English Dictionary list octopi as an acceptable plural alongside octopuses. In the late 1800s, an article entitled “Octopus Philology” declared, “Some daring spirits with little Latin and less Greek rushed upon octopi as for octopuses, a man would as soon think of swallowing one of the animals thus described as pronounce such a word at a respectable tea-table.” The article went on to recommend the use of octopods, which, fortunately, didn't stick. (rainsrs) noun Word forms: plural -oses, esp collectively -os. Indeed, this form is perfectly correct, but some people still cringe when they say it. Most words that enter English are pluralized according to the rules of English, rather than the rules of their “native form,” Merriam-Webster explains. ![]() However, using these pretentious plural forms for the sake of grammatical purity would be absurd. Unlike the black rhino, the white rhinoceros will never sleep lying on its side. Similarly, rhinoceros should become rhinocerotes, and stadium should become stadia. Since the word octopus was originally Greek, it seems only logical that its plural form would be octopodes. Latin words, on the other hand, are sometimes made plural with an -i ending-like stimuli and syllabi, for example. Octopus stems from the Greek word oktopous, and technically, Greek words ending in -pus (like platypus) should be made plural by adding - podes (meaning feet) to the end. Quartz argues that only one way is grammatically correct-and it’s not octopi. Contrary to most if not all of these answers (I stopped reading after a good handful of them), the correct anglicization of the Greek plural for platypus. What would you call them? Octopi? Octopuses? Perhaps octopodes? People have been quibbling over the correct plural form of octopus for well over a century, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, and it’s still a sore spot among word-lovers. Send us feedback about these examples.Few people have seen more than one octopus in the same place at the same time-they’re usually solitary creatures, after all-but let’s suppose you did. These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'rhino.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Marc Bona, cleveland, 22 July 2022 See More 2022 The female Eastern black rhino calf was born July 9. count : a large, heavy animal of Africa and Asia that has thick skin and either one or two large horns on its nose. ![]() Britannica Dictionary definition of RHINOCEROS. Gary Warth, San Diego Union-Tribune, 23 Aug. rhinoceros (noun) rhinoceros /ra nsrs/ noun. 2022 Poaching in South African is estimated to cause the death of one rhino every eight hours. 2022 An adorable baby white rhino was born at the San Diego Zoo – and conservationists hope his birth might signal good news for his endangered cousins. Michael Robbins, Harper's Magazine, 21 Dec. rhinoceroses or rhinoceros ME rinoceros < L rhinoceros < Gr rhinokers, lit., nose horned < rhis (see RHINO ) + keras, HORN any of a family (Rhinocerotidae). 2023 Share Southern white rhinos are threatened by inbreeding. Examples of rhinoceros The soundtrack to a wild rhinoceross life is wind passing through the savannah grass, birds chirping, and distant animals moving across. Garfield Hylton, Orlando Sentinel, 31 Jan. 2023 On Tuesday, Wild Florida, a drive-through animal venue in Kenansville, said the rhino posed an imminent danger to the park at large, according to its Facebook post. 2023 The rhino was hit several times but managed to escape the trees. ![]() It alights on the back of the rhinoceros in search of parasitic insects. noun (Zol.) An African beefeater ( Buphaga Africana ). noun (Zol.) a very large beetle of the genus Dynastes, having a horn on the head. Flora Stubbs, Travel + Leisure, 12 Apr. noun (Zol.) an auk of the North Pacific ( Cerorhina monocrata) which has a deciduous horn on top of the bill. New York Times, 14 June 2023 Now, there are 123 - and 141 critically endangered black rhinos. Noun An article on Tuesday about black rhinos stated incorrectly the amount of territory lost by two rhinos after they were dehorned. ![]()
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