What does fungi mean?
Fungi are a distinct kingdom of living organisms that includes mushrooms, toadstools, moulds, yeasts, and mildews. Unlike plants, they contain no chlorophyll and cannot make their own food; instead, they absorb nutrients from organic matter, decomposing dead material or sometimes parasitising living hosts. The word also serves simply as the plural of fungus. Fungi occupy a central place in both ecology and human life: they recycle nutrients through forests, ferment bread and beer, and yield antibiotics such as penicillin, while a few species cause disease in crops and people. Scientifically, the term appears constantly in biology, medicine, and mycology — the study of fungi — often in phrases like 'kingdom Fungi' or 'filamentous fungi'. Because the singular and plural forms differ (fungus versus fungi), writers must take care to match the form to the number of organisms being described.
nounFungi are a kingdom of spore-producing organisms that includes mushrooms, moulds, yeasts, and toadstools, distinct from plants because they lack chlorophyll and obtain nutrients by absorbing organic matter. The word is the plural of fungus.
- The kingdom (Fungi) of spore-producing organisms — including mushrooms, moulds, yeasts, and toadstools — that lack chlorophyll and feed by absorbing organic matter.
- The plural of fungus: multiple individual organisms of this kind.
"After weeks of rain, the forest floor was carpeted with fungi of every colour and shape."
"Scientists estimate that millions of fungal species exist, yet only a small fraction of fungi have been formally described."
"The dish was finished with wild porcini, one of the most prized edible fungi in Italian cooking."
Fungi is the regular Latin-derived plural of fungus and is preferred in all formal, medical, and scientific contexts. The anglicised plural 'funguses' exists but is rare. Pronunciation varies between /ˈfʌŋɡaɪ/ and /ˈfʌndʒaɪ/, with the former more widely accepted.
"Several parasitic fungi were identified on the oak's roots."
Fungi are more closely related to animals than to plants — and without them, the world would be buried under unrotted leaves.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of fungi
Fungi derives from the Latin fungus, meaning mushroom or fungus, which itself passed into Latin from an earlier Mediterranean source of uncertain ultimate origin. The plural form fungi follows the Latin second-declension pattern and has been retained in English scientific usage since natural history adopted Latin binomial nomenclature in the early modern period. The same Latin root gives English its related derivatives, including fungal, fungous, fungoid, and compounds such as fungicide.
Related word forms
How fungi is actually used
In scientific writing, fungi is treated as the standard plural of fungus and as the name of the biological kingdom; pronunciations vary, with /ˈfʌŋɡaɪ/ being most common and /ˈfʌndʒaɪ/ also heard. In everyday speech people often say 'mushrooms' or 'moulds' rather than using the collective term.
Easily confused with fungi
Fungus is the singular form referring to one such organism, while fungi is the plural referring to two or more, or to the group as a whole.
Funghi is an Italian-influenced variant spelling occasionally seen in menus and informal writing; fungi is the standard English spelling.