wikipedia
English
Image:Southern Blue-ringed Octopus Pengo.jpg|thumb|An octopus
Etymology
From Gr. unicode|���� (okt�pous).
Pronunciation
audio|en-us-octopus.ogg|Audio (US)
Noun
en-noun|ploctopuses|pl2octopi|pl3=octopodes (see usage note regarding plurals)
- Any of several marine molluscs/mollusks, of the family Octopodidae, having no internal or external protective shell or bone (unlike the nautilus, squid or cuttlefish) and eight arms each covered with suckers.
- uncountable Any of these marine molluscs eaten as food.
- context|by extension An organization that has many powerful branches controlled from the centre.
Usage notes
w:Fowler's Modern English Usage|Fowler�s 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 okt�pous (unicode|�κ���ο��), masculine gender, whose plural is okt�podes (unicode|�κ���οδε�). 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 (��α��δι), neuter gender, with plural form khtapodia (��α��δια).
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.
Translations
trans-top|mollusc
Albanian: tetëkëmbësh m, oktapod m
Arabic: ARchar|أخطب�ط unicode|(�u��ubū�)
Basque: olagarro
Bosnian: hobotnica f
Bulgarian: ок�опод (oktopod)
Catalan: pop#Catalan|pop m
Chinese: ç« é�, ç« é±¼ (zhÄ�ngyú)
Cornish: kollell-lesa f
Czech: chobotnice
Danish: blæksprutte c
Dutch: octopus
Esperanto: polpo
Estonian: kaheksajalg
Finnish: mustekala
French: pieuvre f, poulpe m
German: Oktopus m, Tintenfisch m, Krake f
Greek: οκ�ά�ο�� (oktápous) m, οκ�α��δι (oktapódi) n, ��α��δι (khtapódi) n
Hawaiian: heʻe
Hindi: (astapad)
Hungarian: polip
Icelandic: kolkrabbi m
Ido: polpo
Ilocano: kurita
Indonesian: ikan gurita, ikan mangsi
Interlingua: octopode
Irish: ochtapas
Italian: piovra f, polipo m, polpo m
trans-mid
Japanese: ã�¿ã�³, è�¸, ç« é� (ã��ã��, táko)
Korean: 문� (muneo)
Latin: octopus#Latin|octopus m
Lithuanian: aštuonkojis
Malay: ikan kurita, doyak
Malayalam: ന�രാളി (nīr�li)
Maltese: qarnita f
Manx: oghtapus m, hoght-choshagh m
Maori: wheke
Neapolitan: purpo m
Norwegian: blekksprut m, akkar m
Polish: o�miornica f
Portuguese: polvo m
Punjabi: ਤੰਦ�� (tãdū�)
Russian: о��миног (os�minóg) m
Sardinian (Campidanese): pruppu m
Serbian: hobotnica
Slovak: chobotnica, polyp#Slovak|polyp
Slovene: hobotnica f
Spanish: pulpo m
Swahili: pweza, pweza mkubwa
Swedish: bläckfisk
Tagalog: pugita, oktopus
Tok Pisin: urita
Tongan: feke
Turkish: ahtapot
Volapük: loktop
Welsh: octopws, cymdeithas, nieidiol, wythgoes
Zulu: imbambela, ingwane
trans-bottom
See also
calamari
cuttlefish
Kraken
nautilus
squid
Anagrams
copouts
Category:English nouns with irregular plurals
Dutch
Noun
octopus
- octopus
Category:nl:Molluscs
Norwegian
Noun
octopus
- octopus
Category:Greek derivations
Category:Mollusks
Category:no:Molluscs
el:octopus
fa:octopus
fr:octopus
io:octopus
id:octopus
it:octopus
hu:octopus
nl:octopus
pl:octopus
pt:octopus
fi:octopus
ta:octopus
vi:octopus
zh:octopus
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