Meanings
- misconstructionMisconstruction of diverticula.
The presumption was that tiny seeds or partly chewed nuts might lodge in the pouches in the outer wall of the colon, called diverticuli, leading to irritation, inflammation and infection, called diverticulitis.
2007 June 5, C. Claiborne Ray, “Dangerous Nuts?”, in New York Times
Origin
By misremembering a neuter Latin noun as being a masculine one. The same error happens with others as well (for example, with *inoculus/inoculi for inoculum/inocula); it is relevant in scientific contexts where English uses many learned borrowings from New Latin.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
diverticuli. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/diverticuli
“diverticuli.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/diverticuli. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “diverticuli,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/diverticuli.
Source: diverticuli on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.