-ae
Forming plurals.
[From a Latin plural suffix, or representing the Greek plural ending -ai.]
The -ae suffix is used for the plural of many non-naturalized, specialist, or unfamiliar nouns ending in -a (see -a1) derived from Latin or Greek: antennae is the plural of antenna; larvae of larva; scapulae of scapula, a shoulder-blade; pupae of pupa, a chrysalis. It is increasingly common for such words to have plurals in -as instead. See also -acea, -aceous, -idae, and -inae.
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