Wednesday’s post was entitled “Condominiums And The California Corporate Securities Law“.  Today’s post concerns whether I used the proper plural form of “condominium”.

“Condominium” is derived from the Latin words, cum and dominium.  Cum means with or together and dominium means right of ownership.  Dominium is a neuter noun in the Latin Second Declension, meaning that its plural form is formed by substituting “a” for “um”.  Thus, as the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals observed:

To the purist who winces when Latin is misused, the plural of condominium is condominia.

Hornstein v. Berry, 560 A.2d 530, 533 n.4 (1989).

California, however, doesn’t seem to be well populated with Latin purists.  I could find “condominia” in only one reported California decision:  “Appellant contends that the fact that the Los Angeles City Council placed a moratorium on the construction of new high rise condominia in the Westwood-Wilshire area several months later lends support to their contentions.”  Markley v. City Council, 131 Cal.App.3d 656, 667 (1982).  I found no instances of “condominia” in a California statute.