octopus

octopus
octopus (n.) 1758, genus name of a type of eight-armed cephalopod mollusks, from Gk. oktopous, lit. "eight-footed," from okto "eight" (see EIGHT (Cf. eight)) + pous "foot" (see FOOT (Cf. foot) (n.)). Proper plural is octopodes, though octopuses probably works better in English. Octopi is from mistaken assumption that -us in this word is the Latin noun ending that takes -i in plural.

Etymology dictionary. 2014.

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Synonyms:
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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Octopus — Pour les articles homonymes, voir Octopus (homonymie) …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Octopus — bimaculoides …   Википедия

  • Octopus — oder Oktopus bezeichnet: Octopus (Gattung), eine Gattung aus der Ordnung der Kraken speziell die Krakenart Gewöhnlicher Krake Octopus (Telefonanlage), eine Familie mittlerer und großer TK Anlagen der Deutschen Telekom Octopus (Yacht), die Mega… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Octopus — Oc to*pus, n. [NL. See {Octopod}.] 1. (Zo[ o]l.) A genus of eight armed cephalopods, including numerous species, some of them of large size. See {Devilfish}. [1913 Webster] 2. (Zo[ o]l.) Any member of the genus {Octopus}. [PJC] 3. (Fig.)… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • octopus — ► NOUN (pl. octopuses) ▪ a mollusc with eight sucker bearing arms, a soft body, beak like jaws, and no internal shell. DERIVATIVES octopoid adjective. USAGE The standard plural in English of octopus is octopuses. However, since the word comes… …   English terms dictionary

  • octopus — [äk′tə pəs, äk′təpoos] n. pl. octopuses, octopi [äk′təpī΄] octopodes [äk täp′ə dēz΄] [ModL < Gr oktōpous, eight footed < oktō,EIGHT + pous (gen. podos), FOOT] 1. any of various octopods (order Octopoda) having a soft, saclike body, a… …   English World dictionary

  • Octŏpus — (Polyp), Gattung der achtfüßigen Kopffüßler, mit kugeligem Leibe ohne Schale u. acht gleichartigen Armen, mit zwei Reihen Saugnäpfchen; große sepienartige Thiere des Meeres, welche sich von allerlei Seethieren nähren; Art: Gemeiner Polyp (O.… …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • Octŏpus — (»Achtfuß«) s. Tintenschnecken …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • octopus — has the plural form octopuses. The pseudo Latin form octopi, except when used jocularly, is misconceived, since the Greek stem is octopod (giving the rightly rejected form octopodes in English) …   Modern English usage

  • Octopus — This article is about the order of cephalopod. For other uses, see Octopus (disambiguation). Octopus …   Wikipedia

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