Make Your Editor Cry: Fetus (Awkward Plural)
BLUF: (Bottom Line Up Front)
The plural of fetus is fetuses or rarely feti.
The definition of fetus: an unborn developing human child
The singular of fetus is fetus. The plural of fetus is fetuses or less commonly feti. You can use either, just be consistent throughout the entire text.
The noun fetus has a Latin root—act of bearing young, offspring, baby, infant, child; akin to Latin fetus newly delivered, fruitful—which is the derivation of the plural feti. The plural feti does not conform to the standard rules for forming the plurals of nouns in English. Fetuses, which conforms to the standard rules for forming plurals, is by far the more common version Examples:
Female fetuses tend to weigh less than males, at full term.
The detection of multiple feti can be made by using ultrasound technology.
Gregg Bridgeman is the Editor-in-Chief at Olivia Kimbrell Press. He is husband to best-selling Christian author Hallee Bridgeman and parent to three. He continues to proudly serve in the US Armed Forces and has done so in either an active or reserve capacity for more than twenty years as an airborne and air assault qualified paratrooper, earning a Bronze Star for his service. Most importantly, he was ordained in October of 2001 after surrendering his life to Christ decades earlier.