Plural of hippopotamus
irregular plural
The plural of hippopotamus is hippopotami, hippopotamuses or hippopotamus.
Forms of hippopotamus
| Singular | hippopotamus /ˌhɪp.əˈpɒt.ə.məs/ |
|---|---|
| Plural | hippopotami /ˌhɪp.əˈpɒt.ə.miː/ hippopotamuses hippopotamus /ˌhɪp.əˈpɒt.ə.məs/ |
| Countable | countable |
Hippopotami and hippopotamuses in a sentence
- Abundant remains of continental vertebrates, such as elephants, rhinoceros, hippopotami and suidians (Pleistocene).1982, [Paolo Arduini], [Giorgio Teruzzi], “The Past in the Earth”, in Prehistoric Atlas: An Illustrated Guide to the Origins of Life on…. From the entry suidian
- It was a bit like a whale acting coy -- or one of the hippopotami in pink tutus in Fantasia.2002, A. M. Jolly, Grumble Soup, →ISBN. From the entry flobber
- But if these hippopotami are Sethian, how could Apophis, a professed follower of Seth, allow this to go on in his own city of Avaris?1960, John Gwyn Griffiths, The conflict of Horus and Seth from Egyptian and classical sources: a study in ancient mythology, page 47. From the entry Sethian
- This hippopotamine association derived from the well-known phenomenon of fearless female hippopotamuses protecting their young.2017, Edgar Williams, Hippopotamus, Reaktion Books, pages 60, 61. From the entry hippopotamine
Meaning of hippopotamus
- noun A semi-aquatic, herbivorous, African hoofed mammal of the family Hippopotamidae.
- noun The common hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius).
Nouns ending in -us: plural -i
Questions about the plural of hippopotamus
- What is the plural of hippopotamus?
- The plural of hippopotamus is hippopotami, hippopotamuses or hippopotamus.
- Which is correct, hippopotami or hippopotamuses?
- Both are used. hippopotamuses is the more common of the two in English writing.
- Is hippopotamus countable?
- Hippopotamus is a countable noun.
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: hippopotamus (page history and authors) and the entries of its forms. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws left out forms marked obsolete, archaic, rare or dialectal and added the examples. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this page: “Plural of hippopotamus.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/plural/hippopotamus. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.