# Plural of campus... why isn't it campi? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 18, 2002, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plural-of-campus-why-isnt-it-campi/143600 "2002-12-18T17:37:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bum\_Farto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/43a26b/32.png) [@Bum\_Farto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bum_Farto)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2002, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plural-of-campus-why-isnt-it-campi/143600/1 "2002-12-18T17:37:56Z")
Hello all, This is my first post here, so please be kind. I have often wondered why the plural of campus (campuses) does not follow the pattern of similar words such as octopus, cactus, or radius(Octopi, cacti, and radii respectively). Does anyone know if there’s a reason for this? Or should I just chalk it up as an exception to the rule? Speaking of the rule… is there a rule in this instance? Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![booklover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@booklover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/booklover)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2002, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plural-of-campus-why-isnt-it-campi/143600/2 "2002-12-18T18:07:45Z")
There is indeed a reason for this–in Latin, nouns that are neuter (as opposed to masculine or feminine) that end in -us have the -i or -ii ending in the plural. Besides the examples above, alumni and loci (plural of locus) follow this pattern. IIRC, campus means field in Latin and the plural is indeed campi. However, due to the fact that most folks nowadays have never taken Latin, there are a number of words where people commonly use the incorrect singular or plural form because they don’t know the rules or simply because it sounds better. The most outstanding example I can think of here is that media is the plural of medium, yet people still sometimes refer to “mediums” or use “media” in the singular sense. Feel free to toss corrections my way–I only took Latin for two years and that was several years ago! ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2002, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plural-of-campus-why-isnt-it-campi/143600/3 "2002-12-18T18:29:59Z")
_Octopi_ is an anomalous word. You’re best off ignoring it. _Locus_ is an anomalous Latin word; it can be either masculine or neuter in the plural. But, in general, I think one important difference is that _campus_ does not mean in English what it means in Latin. _Radius_ and _alumnus_ both mean in Latin what they do in English, at least in one sense. So rather than being an English word which was borrowed from Latin, _campus_ is an English word which borrowed a spelling from a similar, but different, Latin word. Another example of this would be _doctor_, which is a Latin word meaning “teacher”. The plural of the Latin word _doctor_ is _doctores_. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2002, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plural-of-campus-why-isnt-it-campi/143600/4 "2002-12-18T18:48:43Z")
What if you had several cans of Puss 'n Boots? ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2002, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plural-of-campus-why-isnt-it-campi/143600/5 "2002-12-18T18:48:47Z")
Well, the English-following-standard-rules plural of any word is formed by adding -s or -es according to a few rules. Contrary to the point above, _second declension_ masculine Latin nouns that end in -us form a plural in -i. Other Latin nouns of third and fourth declensions form plurals in other ways: corpus, a neuter 3rd declension noun, gives corpora; manus, the technical term for hand or forepaw in biology based on the Latin word for hand, is fourth declension – the Latin plural is also manus (with a long U), and the English usage is generally to use manuses since the one sheep/two sheep no-change written Latin plural could easily be misunderstood. “Octopi” is a peculiarity of English, based on a partial acceptance of a misunderstanding of the rule – an octopus is an invertebrate with “eight feet” or _octo +pus_, the latter being Greek, and the proper plural from Latin borrowing from Greek would be octopodes. ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2002, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plural-of-campus-why-isnt-it-campi/143600/6 "2002-12-18T19:04:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Polycarp \* > Contrary to the point above, _second declension_ masculine Latin nouns that end in -us form a plural in -i. Shoot, that’s right. I should have caught that. Here’s an overview of forming Latin plurals: First declension is easy. All the words (that are important) are feminine, and first-declension nouns in English should be easy to work with: F: alumna -\> alumnae F: alga -\> algae Second declension can be either masculine or neuter, and we’ve already seen examples: M: alumnus -\> alumni M: radius -\> radii N: medium -\> media N: bacterium -\> bacteria Third declension nouns are tricky. They can be any of the three genders (though I can’t think of any actual examples in English that use M or F), and their singluars and plurals tend to look rather different: M: doctor -\> doctores (not an English word) N: opus -\> opera N: genus -\> genera Fourth and fifth declension are so rare, you seldom have to worry about them in Latin, much less English. ---
**Author:** ![mrcrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@mrcrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrcrow)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2002, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plural-of-campus-why-isnt-it-campi/143600/7 "2002-12-18T19:08:46Z")
i remember a group of latin noun in the little ditty 'a quericus of a certain tribus sat on the porticus of her domus under the shade of a quericus with an acus in her manus. these were irregular endings of the us us nouns any chance of the campus being amongst this group.? semper bufo! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2002, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plural-of-campus-why-isnt-it-campi/143600/8 "2002-12-18T19:37:58Z")
The short answer, which does not I think contradict anything posted above by folks who actually know some Latin, is that English grabbed words from other languages willy-nilly, whenever the need arose (and not before); there was no systemic incorporation of Latin words into English. Therefore, some words got pulled in with their correct plurals in the original language, some didn’t. For instance, you bring an agenda to a meeting, not an agendum, although you would expect agenda to be the plural. –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2002, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plural-of-campus-why-isnt-it-campi/143600/9 "2002-12-18T19:39:12Z")
I always wondered the same thing about guys named “Rufus”. ---
**Author:** ![RM\_Mentock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@RM\_Mentock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RM_Mentock)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2002, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plural-of-campus-why-isnt-it-campi/143600/10 "2002-12-18T19:50:08Z")
And, the big question, why isn’t “i” the plural of “us”? See, it’s the other way around, eh, eh?? ---
**Author:** ![MC\_Master\_of\_Ceremonies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bb73d2/32.png) [@MC\_Master\_of\_Ceremonies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MC_Master_of_Ceremonies)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2002, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plural-of-campus-why-isnt-it-campi/143600/11 "2002-12-18T19:56:46Z")
The plural of octopus is **not** octopi!!! Octupus has a Greek root and therfor is not subject to Latin pluralization, the correct plural is **Octopuses**. Though some people do mistakenly use the plural ‘octopi’, it is incorect. ---
**Author:** ![Jabba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b5e925/32.png) [@Jabba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jabba)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2002, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plural-of-campus-why-isnt-it-campi/143600/12 "2002-12-18T20:05:14Z")
An alternative plural of _octopus_ is _octopodes_, which is the Greek plural form. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2002, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plural-of-campus-why-isnt-it-campi/143600/13 "2002-12-18T20:06:09Z")
Hang on a sec. Does this mean that one ring of deep fried prawn is a _scampus_? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2002, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plural-of-campus-why-isnt-it-campi/143600/14 "2002-12-18T20:11:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by The Gaspode \* > \*\*Hang on a sec. Does this mean that one ring of deep fried prawn is a _scampus_? \*\* No, _scampi_ is from Italian, not Latin, and the singular is _scampo_. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2002, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plural-of-campus-why-isnt-it-campi/143600/15 "2002-12-18T20:17:15Z")
> [@](#): > > Does this mean that one ring of deep fried prawn is a scampus? Nope. > [@](#): > > scam·pi ( P ) Pronunciation Key (skmp, skäm-) > n. pl. scampi > Large shrimp broiled or sautéed and served in a garlic and butter sauce. > > [Italian, pl. of scampo, a kind of lobster, from Greek kamp, bending (from its shape), perhaps from Greek kamptein, to bend.] So one of them would be a _scampo_, based on the Italian source for the term. And, even then, a deep fried prawn would not be a scampo, since the definition requires that it be broiled or sautéed. ---
**Author:** ![Bob\_Scene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Bob\_Scene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bob_Scene)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2002, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plural-of-campus-why-isnt-it-campi/143600/16 "2002-12-18T20:29:23Z")
I saw a really scary report on the news the other night about how people these days hardly ever stop for schoolbi that are unloading children, even when they have their lights flashing… ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2002, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plural-of-campus-why-isnt-it-campi/143600/17 "2002-12-18T20:34:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by mrcrow \* > quericus of a certain tribus sat on the porticus of her domus under the shade of a quericus with an acus in her manus. An interesting bit of trivium, but let me add a datum point: the second quericus should probably be quercus (oak tree), and the interesting point about that noun is: second declension nouns (such as dominus) are all masculine except for tree names (such as quercus) which are feminine. ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2002, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plural-of-campus-why-isnt-it-campi/143600/18 "2002-12-18T20:35:04Z")
Interestingly enough, _bus_ just happens to come from a Latin word _omnibus_, which is not nominative, not a noun, and not even singular. Trying to weasel the “correct” plural out of it would be difficult indeed. ---
**Author:** ![booklover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@booklover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/booklover)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2002, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plural-of-campus-why-isnt-it-campi/143600/19 "2002-12-18T20:47:52Z")
:smack: I can’t believe I mixed up neuter and masculine… at least I knew it was a _non-feminine_ word. ---
**Author:** ![Jabba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b5e925/32.png) [@Jabba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jabba)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2002, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plural-of-campus-why-isnt-it-campi/143600/20 "2002-12-18T20:56:15Z")
**Arnold Winkelried** said: > [@](#): > > second declension nouns (such as dominus) are all masculine except for tree names (such as quercus) which are feminine Isn’t _bellum_ a 2nd declension neuter noun? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plural-of-campus-why-isnt-it-campi/143600.md?page=2)