asyla
- 1Plural of asylum. Less common than asylums, mostly in formal or historical writing.
Reformers visited the country's asyla and reported on the harsh conditions inside.
Several asyla across the region shut their doors during the twentieth century.
Note
A Latin plural carried over intact: asylum was a neuter noun, and neuter nouns in -um take -a, as datum gives data. The everyday English plural is asylums, which is far more frequent. Only the countable meanings can be pluralized, meaning places of refuge or the dated institutions for the mentally ill. The legal protection granted to political refugees never takes this form.
asyla is a form of asylum
asylum, noun: The physical and legal protection given by a place of safety, especially to political refugees. Full entry
- Spelling
- asylum → asyla: irregular plural (no -s)
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