platypus

[plat-i-puhs, -poos]

noun

plural

platypuses, platypi 

1. a small, aquatic, egg-laying monotreme, Ornithorhynchus anatinus, of Australia and Tasmania, having webbed feet, a tail like that of a beaver, a sensitive bill resembling that of a duck, and, in adult males, venom-injecting spurs on the ankles of the hind limbs, used primarily for fighting with other males during the breeding season.

platypus

/ ˈplætɪpəs /

noun

1. See duck-billed platypus

Word History and Origins

Origin of platypus¹

1790–1800; < New Latin < Greek platýpous flat-footed, equivalent to platy- platy- + -pous, adj. derivative of poús foot

Word History and Origins

Origin of platypus¹

C18: New Latin, from _platy- + -pus, from Greek pous foot

Example Sentences

In 1943, a camouflaged ship set off from Australia to England carrying top secret cargo - a single young platypus.

From BBC

Professor Flannery said the research reveals that 100 million years ago, Australia was home to a diversity of monotremes, of which the platypus and the echidna are the only surviving descendants.

From Science Daily

Bjorkstrand may have led Columbus in goals for two consecutive years before coming to Seattle, but this was like being the world’s prettiest platypus.

From Seattle Times

I am going to watch the sun turn into a platypus.

From Los Angeles Times

The platypus, a unique egg-laying mammal native to Australia, faces many threats in the wild: climate change, predators, pollution, floods and shrinking freshwater habitats.

From New York Times

When To Use

Plural word for platypus

The plural form of platypus can be either platypuses or platypi, pronounced [ plat-i-pahy ], but platypuses is more widely used. The plurals of several other singular words ending in -us are formed in the same way as platypuses, such as virus/viruses, sinus/sinuses, and walrus/walruses. Irregular plurals that are formed like platypi, such as cactus/cacti and fungus/fungi, derive directly from their original pluralization in Latin. However, the standard English plural -es ending is often also acceptable for these terms, as in cactuses.