Addenda or Addendum – Difference Explained

You’re writing an article and you’re trying to figure out whether to use Addenda or Addendum.

An addendum is an additional item added at the end of a publication, whereas addenda is the plural form of the word addendum.

Addendum Meaning

The term addendum means additional material added at the end of a publication. This word is also sometimes used to denote ‘additions‘ or corrections in a text that has been published, often with an editor’s note on how it affects the original document.

It is a document or part of a document that contains additional information to an original. It can also be considered as supplementary material or an appendix to the original. This type of document, which often accompanies legal documents such as wills and contracts, includes any additional thoughts on the subject at hand.

A supplement is something that adds to or completes what already exists in a certain condition. For example, it may be a new edition with revised text for clarity purposes or more detailed explanations. These are sometimes used in cases where updates need to take place with regard to laws and regulations changing over time.

Addendum in a sentence:

“Tom knew he had to write an addendum to his book.”

“Any addendum to be agreed after this contract must be stated here.”

Addendum Plural

The plural form of addendum is ‘addenda‘.

People sometimes mix up the plural of addendum ‘addenda‘ with the singular form, ‘addendum‘. This is wrong as these two words represent different things and should not be used interchangeably.

The plural form of addenda is itself, ‘addenda’ (without an apostrophe).

Addenda Meaning

Addenda is the plural form of the word Addendum and seldom appears without being capitalized as ‘Addenda’. Addenda is an old-fashioned word for ‘additions’ and can also be considered as supplementary material or an appendix to the original document.

Addenda Example:

“Paul included an addenda, appendices, and even a thank you note in his new book.”

“The addenda in the auditors report is of great concern to management.”

Addendum or Addendum

The words are often incorrectly used interchangeably, but they actually have different meanings. ‘Addendum’ is a word that’s derived from Latin and used as an adjective meaning “added” or ” supplementary.” It can also be a noun (pluralized by adding ‘a’ at the end).

Difference Between Addendum and Addenda

A difference between the two words can be seen in their respective Latin roots. The word ‘add’ comes from the Latin verb meaning “to add,” while the word ‘append’ comes from the Latin verb meaning “to hang over or append.”

The word “Addendum” comes from Latin roots meaning “that which is to be added“. In other words, it means: ‘something he should have done but didn’t’. It was used originally in the context of a legal document. The word ‘Addenda’ in Latin means ‘things to be added’.

If an author wishes to list all the things that were not included in a work, but should have been, they would call it Addenda (pluralized as ‘Addenda’).

Addenda in Blog Posts

Blog posts do NOT have Addenda because content from a blog can much more easily be amended than other types of documents.

As such, the terms ‘Addendum’ or ‘Addenda’ do not apply in blogs themselves because adding new material on top of what already exists would entail rewriting parts of the text instead of just making additions to end of the original blog post.

Conclusion

In conclusion, when deciding between Addenda or Addendum, remember that an addendum is supplementary material that can be added. The use of `add’ implies that they are additional documents which will modify something already existing.

The plural form ‘Addenda’ refers to more than one such additions made at the end of a completed document.

In law you will find an addendum when referring to supplementary material added by legislative committees (such as drawings and specifications) after their work had been completed.