The story
Formed as walr(us) + -i, the -us of walrus misinterpreted as a nominative singular case ending of a noun of Latin’s second declension. But the word is from Dutch, not Latin. Compare walrii.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Formed as walr(us) + -i, the -us of walrus misinterpreted as a nominative singular case ending of a noun of Latin’s second declension. But the word is from Dutch, not Latin. Compare walrii.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.