Plural of “Impetus”

For some reason, this blog has become a highly-ranked search result for people who want to know the plural of the word “impetus.”

According to Oxford, it’s “impetuses.” We aim to please.

9 thoughts on “Plural of “Impetus”

  1. I’ve been getting numerous referral from searches for “foot models” and, more oddly, “lobster genitals.” I wonder about the IMPETUSES of curiousity about the latter. (See what I did there?)

  2. Impetii.
    It might look wrong but that’s because its not much used. But its part of my language and I use it.
    Now that you’ve seen it, when you look again it won’t look wrong; and impetuses will seem unwieldy and clumsy. Impetii has such a nice lift to it.

    1. Peter, I’m a recovering prescriptivist, with hankerings for the good old days when I didn’t understand why that wasn’t a responsible outlook, but I can see no prospect for ‘impetii’ catching on.

      Find me in a few decades (or dance on my grave, if you’re young enough) and scold my error, but I think ‘impetuses’ wins the day. On the other hand, I’m not going to correct you if I read something you’ve written and find ‘impetii’ there.

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