Octopus

From Fresh Dictionary

1 English
2 Dutch
- 2.1 Noun
3 Norwegian
- 3.1 Noun

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English

Image:Southern Blue-ringed Octopus Pengo.jpg

An octopus

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Etymology

From Latinized Greek noun oktopous (á½ÎºÏÏÏÎ¿ÏÏ) m.

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Noun

octopus (plural: octopuses or octopodes (Greek á½ÎºÏÏÏÎ¿Î´ÎµÏ); for discussion of the incorrect plural octopi see the Wikipedia article).

A marine mollusc/mollusk having no internal or external protective shell or bone (unlike the nautilus, squid or cuttlefish) and eight arms each covered with suckers.

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Note on usage

A note on the plural form: Fowlerâs Modern English Usage states that "the only acceptable plural in English is octopuses", and that octopi is misconceived and octopodes pedantic. Octopi derives from the mistaken notion that octopus is Latin, which it is not. Rather, it is Latinized Greek, from oktÅpous (á½ÎºÏÏÏÎ¿ÏÏ), masculine gender, whose plural is oktÅpodes (á½ÎºÏÏÏÎ¿Î´ÎµÏ). If the word were Latin, it would be octopes ('eight-foot') and the plural octopedes, analogous to centipedes and millipedes, as the plural form of pes ('foot') is pedes. In modern, informal Greek, it is called khtapodi (ÏÏÎ±ÏÏÎ´Î¹), neuter gender, with plural form khtapodia (ÏÏÎ±ÏÏÎ´Î¹Î±).

That said, Merriam-Webster and other dictionaries accept octopi as a plural form. The Oxford English Dictionary lists octopuses, octopi, and octopodes (the order reflecting decreasing frequency of use), stating that the last form is rare. The term octopod (either plural octopods and octopodes can be found) is taken from the taxonomic order octopoda but has no classical equivalent. The collective form octopus is usually reserved for animals consumed for food. Finally worth mentioning is Octopussy, a play on words which found its way back from the movie title to a term of endearment for the animals that have originally inspired it.