It's virusesI didn't write this:
'...There is no such word as 'virii'. This is faux Latin hypercorrectness. Latin words ending in -us form the plural in -i if they're second declension nouns. However, 'virus' is not. It is a fourth declension mass noun, and has no distinct plural. Its English plural is simply 'viruses'.'
('...There is no such word as 'virii'. This is faux Latin hypercorrectness. Latin words ending in -us form the plural in -i if they're second declension nouns. However, 'virus' is not. It is a fourth declension mass noun, and has no distinct plural. Its English plural is simply 'viruses'.'
UncleLewy,
Fri 11 Jun 2004, 16:46,
archived)