# Penii vs. Penises **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 9, 2003, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penii-vs-penises/193998 "2003-08-09T07:29:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2003, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penii-vs-penises/193998/21 "2003-08-10T05:49:08Z")
[Here’s](http://dictionary.reference.com/help/faq/language/v/virus.html) [Dictionary.com](http://Dictionary.com)’s take on the virus pluralization situation. It doesn’t say much besides that it’s not viri/virii. The former is in fact the Latin word for “men.” ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2003, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penii-vs-penises/193998/22 "2003-08-10T06:55:56Z")
What is the OP referring to? I’ve only seen “penii” used as a joke. Do you have a link? ---
**Author:** ![Soup\_du\_jour](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@Soup\_du\_jour](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soup_du_jour)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2003, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penii-vs-penises/193998/23 "2003-08-10T09:42:39Z")
In Latin, the nominative masculine is usually spelled with “-us” on the end. The plural of this is spelled “-i.” Thus, the word “denarius” (a coin) would become “denarii” (coins.) “Viri” is actually the plural of “vir” (man.) Unfortunately, “penis” does not have the telltale “-us” on the end, which would indicate that it was decendant from Latin. Thus, the spelling “penii” would be incorrect. (It would be pronounced “pee-nee-ee” in English.) Another reason why a plural could contain a “-i” on the end would be in cases such as grafitti, scampi, or spaghetti. But in such cases, the singular ends in “-o” (grafitto, scampo, and spaghetto,) so our hapless penis doesn’t fit in this catergory either. Alas. Penises looks like the best choice. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Nader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Darth\_Nader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Nader)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2003, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penii-vs-penises/193998/24 "2003-08-10T09:43:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Captain Amazing \* > \*\*Not to nitpick, but you really should work on your parallelism there. \*\* Even worse, how did I manage to fuck up spelling **Latin**? :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Already\_in\_Use](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a9adbd/32.png) [@Already\_in\_Use](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Already_in_Use)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2003, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penii-vs-penises/193998/25 "2003-08-10T10:01:51Z")
So does one of our linguists want to explain why exactly virus doesn’t pluralize as viri, and which types of -us words become -i and which don’t? ---
**Author:** ![Skeezix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/839c29/32.png) [@Skeezix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skeezix)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2003, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penii-vs-penises/193998/26 "2003-08-10T10:06:44Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by **Soup\_du\_jour** _: > **Alas. Penises looks like the best choice.** I have nothing of real worth to contribute here, except to mention that this is very likely gonna get snatched up as someone’s sig before the day’s through. ---
**Author:** ![biqu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7feea3/32.png) [@biqu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/biqu)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2003, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penii-vs-penises/193998/27 "2003-08-10T10:17:29Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Already in Use_ > So does one of our linguists want to explain why exactly virus doesn’t pluralize as viri, and which types of -us words become -i and which don’t? Well, for one thing, viri is the plural of vir, meaning man, according to the link provided by **Speaker for the Dead**. [This page](http://www.dl.ket.org/latin2/grammar/declensions.htm) has a detailed table of Latin noun declensions. ---
**Author:** ![Soup\_du\_jour](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@Soup\_du\_jour](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soup_du_jour)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2003, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penii-vs-penises/193998/28 "2003-08-10T10:19:06Z")
> [@](#): > > So does one of our linguists want to explain why exactly virus doesn’t pluralize as viri, and which types of -us words become -i and which don’t? You’d have to ask a linguist, not just a lowly Latin student. Words branch out throughout history, taking on strange forms, and such. ---
**Author:** ![Tradnor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cab0a1/32.png) [@Tradnor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tradnor)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2003, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penii-vs-penises/193998/29 "2003-08-10T11:21:35Z")
[This page](http://www.perl.com/language/misc/virus.html) linked from the [Dictionary.com](http://Dictionary.com) article has some good details _virus_ in Latin. > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Already in Use_ > Well, for one thing, viri is the plural of vir, meaning man, according to the link provided by **Speaker for the Dead**. The above page also mentions this as if it were significant. Are there no homonyms in Latin? ---
**Author:** ![Tradnor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cab0a1/32.png) [@Tradnor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tradnor)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2003, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penii-vs-penises/193998/30 "2003-08-10T11:22:47Z")
The quote in the previous post is actually from **amore ac studio**. My apologies. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2003, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penii-vs-penises/193998/31 "2003-08-10T11:47:06Z")
Thank goodness I only have one penis. ---
**Author:** ![Phnord\_Prephect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/df705f/32.png) [@Phnord\_Prephect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phnord_Prephect)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2003, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penii-vs-penises/193998/32 "2003-08-10T12:45:22Z")
Penis, if it’s prepared. Hmm? This isn’t… oh. Right. Nevermind. ---
**Author:** ![Ayesha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c0e974/32.png) [@Ayesha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ayesha)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2003, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penii-vs-penises/193998/33 "2003-08-10T13:20:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SPOOFE \* > \*\*You shouldn’t be allowed how to spell the plural of “penis” until you have more than one, yourself. \*\* I have had more than one. I did let the men in my life carry them for me most of the time. What ? Penises can get heavy ! ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_Wright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@Steve\_Wright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_Wright)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2003, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penii-vs-penises/193998/34 "2003-08-10T16:51:36Z")
The English word “virus” is derived from the Latin word “virus”, which means, loosely, “poison” - it’s the same root as “virulent”. The Latin “virus” is a perfectly ordinary second declension noun, so the (nominative) plural is “viri”. As **matt\_mcl** points out, the English word “virus” has a normal everyday English plural, which is “viruses”. “Virii” is just plain wrong whichever way you slice it. The English word “penis” is derived from the Latin “penis” which means either “a male sexual organ” or “a tail”. The Latin “penis” is a third declension noun, the third declension is a bit of a pig, but if memory serves the nominative plural should be “penes”. And the English plural would be “penises”. And “penii” is just plain stupid. Source: the Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, [this online Latin dictionary](http://www.nd.edu/~archives/latin.htm), and hours of misspent youth spent poring over noun declensions in my Latin teacher’s Dormobile. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_Wright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@Steve\_Wright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_Wright)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2003, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penii-vs-penises/193998/35 "2003-08-10T23:40:56Z")
And _that_, folks, is how you kill a thread. _:: gives it one more whack over the head with an etymological dictionary to make sure, then saunters off into the sunset ::_ ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2003, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penii-vs-penises/193998/36 "2003-08-10T23:47:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ayesha \* > \*\*What ? Penises can get heavy ! \*\* Not if you say the right things to them. Then they stand up on their own and carry themselves quite well. 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penii-vs-penises/193998.md?page=1)