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I don't recall ever seeing it, but I wonder what the plural of pi would look like. If you simply add an "s", you'd have to be very clear you weren't using French.
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not to be a spoil-sport or nothin', but isn't pi a unique, singular thing that doesn't take well to pluralization?!
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I wasn't going to say anything but I just came across this monstrosity: Technically, the plural is chiasmi, (as with octopus). ( http://www.chiasmus.com/whatischiasmus.shtml) and this thread is too good an opportunity to express my astonishment that anyone who wishes to pontificate to the public at large on linguistic matters could make such a mistake. Bingley
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This man seems a little strange; Gurunet agrees with him on the plural, however. But what they have as an example seems to be what he calls antithesis.
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old hand
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Anglosaxons seem to be most intrigued by plural forms originating from greek or latin. But if you learn English as a second language, plurals like geese, lice or mice take more effort to memorize. (I am not going to rehash mongoose here..)
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One stem of the flower is gladiolus and OED says the plural is gladioluses. BUT
I had an aunt who persisted in using gladioli and pronouncing it Gla-DIE-oh-lie.
We all have eccentric relatives. God knows I try my best to keep up the tradidtion!
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Gurunet agrees with him on the plural
Of chiasmus perhaps, but his example of octopus is a little cock-eyed.
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"...isn't pi a unique, singular thing that doesn't take well to pluralization?"
Probably why I can't recall seeing it. But I can conceive of a classroom scenario wherein the math professor might say, "In this equation, you will note that the pis cancel."
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OP
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I just checked MW and will paste below what's there. The pi that we think of in math has the plural 'pis,' but another kind of pi, that can also be spelled 'pie' (not the edible pie), has the plural 'pies.'
OK, here's the scoop of pi from MW:
Main Entry: 4pi
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural pis /'pIz/
Etymology: Middle Greek, from Greek pei, of Semitic origin; akin to Hebrew pE pe
Date: 1823
1 : the 16th letter of the Greek alphabet -- see ALPHABET table
2 a : the symbol ð denoting the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter b : the ratio itself : a transcendental number having a value to eight decimal places of 3.14159265
And:
Main Entry: 1pi
Variant(s): also pie /'pI/
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural pies
Etymology: origin unknown
Date: circa 1659
1 : type that is spilled or mixed
2 : a pi character or matrix
So we have two possible plurals for pi, depending upon meaning. Cool, huh?
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Has there been a revolution in mathematics while I wasn't looking? According to my machine, in ww's citation, pi is represented by the Anglo-saxon eth.
Bingley
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