Etymology and Terminology
Prius is a Latin word meaning "before". According to Toyota, the name was chosen because the Prius was launched before environmental awareness became a mainstream social issue.
In February 2011, Toyota asked the public to decide on what the most proper plural form of Prius should be, with choices including Prien, Prii, Prium, Prius, or Priuses. The company said it would "use the most popular choice in its advertising" and on February 20 announced that "Prii" was the most popular choice, and the new official plural designation. In Latin prius is the neuter singular of the comparative form (prior, prior, prius) of an adjective with only comparative and superlative (the superlative being primus, prima, primum), consequently, like all 3rd declension words, the plural in Latin was priora (cf. Latin declension) which was used by the Lada Priora in 2007.
Beginning in September 2011, Toyota USA began using the following names to differentiate the original Prius from some newer members of the Prius family: the standard Prius became the Prius Liftback, the Prius v (known as the Prius α in Japan, and Prius + in Europe), the Prius Plug-in Hybrid, and the Prius c (called Toyota Aqua in Japan).
Read more about this topic: Toyota Prius
Famous quotes containing the word etymology:
“Semantically, taste is rich and confusing, its etymology as odd and interesting as that of “style.” But while style—deriving from the stylus or pointed rod which Roman scribes used to make marks on wax tablets—suggests activity, taste is more passive.... Etymologically, the word we use derives from the Old French, meaning touch or feel, a sense that is preserved in the current Italian word for a keyboard, tastiera.”
—Stephen Bayley, British historian, art critic. “Taste: The Story of an Idea,” Taste: The Secret Meaning of Things, Random House (1991)