# What is the plural of "Apocalypse"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 11, 2020, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-plural-of-apocalypse/855420 "2020-06-11T00:48:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2020, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-plural-of-apocalypse/855420/41 "2020-06-12T02:57:07Z")
“apocalypse 2, electric boogaloo” is the technical biblical term. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2020, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-plural-of-apocalypse/855420/42 "2020-06-12T03:03:39Z")
Apocalypso. Accompanied by excellent music. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2020, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-plural-of-apocalypse/855420/43 "2020-06-12T03:21:21Z")
> [@Schnitte](#): > > The Greek word is ἀποκάλυψις, which would be latinised as apocalypsis, and takes the Greek plural ἀποκάλυψες… Not -εις? ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2020, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-plural-of-apocalypse/855420/44 "2020-06-12T04:32:17Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > “Trump” was just thrown in as an afterthought – we’d like to think he was singular. And, as a matter of fact, even Donald Trump exists in the plural – [there’s another one](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_L._Trump). (No relation.) ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2020, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-plural-of-apocalypse/855420/45 "2020-06-12T04:37:04Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > Not -εις? You are right. The plural is [ἀποκαλύψεις](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E1%BC%80%CF%80%CE%BF%CE%BA%CE%AC%CE%BB%CF%85%CF%88%CE%B9%CF%82). **Schitte** must have meant to type that but accidentally omitted an iota. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2020, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-plural-of-apocalypse/855420/46 "2020-06-12T04:39:59Z")
We had a thread some time back discussing people’s pet peeves. Some people, it seems, have only one pet peef while other people have two or even many peeves. I’ve seen the word “beef” pluralized as “beeves”. (Not sure if that instance was meant to be taken seriously.) > [@Ulfreida](#): > > What I enjoy is when a word has two plurals which indicate a difference in meaning. For example fish is the plural of fish (how many fish did you catch?) except when talking about species, especially those kept in captivity (what fishes are in this tank?). Note that the word “person” is pluralized as both “persons” and “people”, with different meanings. John Allen Paulos, the mathematics author, in his book _Innumeracy_, suggested that the plural of “spouse” might be “spice”. ---
**Author:** ![Thuringwethil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@Thuringwethil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thuringwethil)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2020, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-plural-of-apocalypse/855420/47 "2020-06-12T15:55:53Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > Witness the Disney classic, _Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs_–released the same year as _The Hobbit_, and thus too early to be influenced by it. C.S. Lewis used “dwarfs” in _The Chronicles of Narnia_. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2020, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-plural-of-apocalypse/855420/48 "2020-06-12T18:50:54Z")
Do the chiefs of the thieves wear briefs? Or should that be ‘chieves of the thiefs wearing brieves’? ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2020, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-plural-of-apocalypse/855420/50 "2020-06-12T19:23:02Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > You are right. The plural is [ἀποκαλύψεις](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E1%BC%80%CF%80%CE%BF%CE%BA%CE%AC%CE%BB%CF%85%CF%88%CE%B9%CF%82). **Schitte** must have meant to type that but accidentally omitted an iota. It’s flattering to be assumed to have meant it right, but I must admit I got it wrong - I indeed thought the plural ending was -ες (possibly owing to brief excursions of mine into Modern Greek, where that is frequently seen in plural forms). ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2020, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-plural-of-apocalypse/855420/51 "2020-06-12T19:59:36Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > Or should that be ‘chieves of the thiefs wearing brieves’? Only if they are all oaves. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2020, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-plural-of-apocalypse/855420/52 "2020-06-12T20:25:32Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > The original meaning of _apocalypse_ was a written revelation from God. So you can have plural apocalypses with no problem. The Book of Revelation is an _apocalypse_ in that sense, which is why the definition has morphed to include a world-ending calamity. More prosaically, it’s an uncovering. I once heard that the plural of charisma is charismata. If so, that’s my favorite plural. It’s also a difficult plural to use in a sentence. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2020, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-plural-of-apocalypse/855420/53 "2020-06-12T20:32:45Z")
I just really really want to know the antonym ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2020, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-plural-of-apocalypse/855420/54 "2020-06-12T21:15:05Z")
> [@jackdavinci](#): > > I just really really want to know the antonym Genesis. In a software project I worked on, a developer created names for the procedure of initializing a thing (“Genesis”) and for destroying that thing (“Armageddon”). I hated those names, especially because no one could ever remember how to spell Armageddon. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2020, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-plural-of-apocalypse/855420/55 "2020-06-12T21:19:23Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Apocalypso. Accompanied by excellent music. Or Apocalypto, accompanied by human sacrifice. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2020, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-plural-of-apocalypse/855420/56 "2020-06-12T23:29:34Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **Yllaria** : > > I once heard that the plural of charisma is charismata. If so, that’s my favorite plural. It’s also a difficult plural to use in a sentence. My previous D&D party had charismata ranging from 8 to 22. ---
**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:** [June 13, 2020, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-plural-of-apocalypse/855420/57 "2020-06-13T00:12:57Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > I once heard that the plural of charisma is charismata. If so, that’s my favorite plural. My favorite is rhinocerontes. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2020, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-plural-of-apocalypse/855420/58 "2020-06-13T00:44:39Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Although, really, almost every other English word ending in F converts it to a V for a plural, so if anything, “dwarfs” is the irregular form. Scarves, knives, lives, staves, so why not dwarves? > > Come to think of it, there’s another one with different plurals in different contexts: Long hiking sticks are staves, but it’d be the staffs of the different departments. “I had the soft foam football and the smooshie foam basketball. I guess there are others, too, but those were all the **Nerves** I needed.” ---
**Author:** ![ALOHA\_HATER](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/76d3ee/32.png) [@ALOHA\_HATER](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ALOHA_HATER)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2020, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-plural-of-apocalypse/855420/59 "2020-06-13T00:46:19Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > I’ve seen the word “beef” pluralized as “beeves”. (Not sure if that instance was meant to be taken seriously.) I heard that cattle ranchers call their animals “beeves,” but that it doesn’t go beyond that. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2020, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-plural-of-apocalypse/855420/60 "2020-06-13T00:51:25Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > My previous D&D party had charismata ranging from 8 to 22. Nice! > [@Colibri](#): > > My favorite is rhinocerontes. Oh, that’s a good one. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2020, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-plural-of-apocalypse/855420/61 "2020-06-13T19:20:37Z")
> [@Schnitte](#): > > It’s flattering to be assumed to have meant it right, but I must admit I got it wrong - I indeed thought the plural ending was -ες (possibly owing to brief excursions of mine into Modern Greek, where that is frequently seen in plural forms). :smack: Speaking of accidentally omitting a letter, I messed up your name, **Schnitte** , sorry. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-plural-of-apocalypse/855420.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-plural-of-apocalypse/855420.md?page=4)