Thus there is no etymological justification for the plural octopi, though this form is sometimes used.Īh, a little bit of dignity restored. Usage: The ending -pus is a Latinised form of Greek pous ‘foot’, the plural of which is podes.
How can this be? Surely not! Scanning down, I read: any animal of the genus Octopus… yada yada yada.
Octopus noun ( plural octopuses or octopi) 1. The fifth word I decided to look up was octopus, planning to photograph the definition and show the evidence to anyone who doubted me. Something you’ll have to get used to if you’re going to accompany me on this blog journey. A less than perfect experience to christen the dictionary. Phonetics the contraction of a word by omitting one or more sounds from the middle, as in the reduction of never to ne’er. But it’s hardly accessible for those who haven’t studied linguistics (which, by last count, was all but three of my friends), who would then have to look up syncope: Succinct, sure, and an adequate definition. Haplology noun the syncope of a syllable within a word, as syllabi(fi)cation. Only to be a little disappointed by the definition:
Plural of octopus how to#
How to christen it? The first word I looked up had to be special. I just happen to have a brand-spanking new Macquarie Fifth Edition Dictionary. So I used to tell anyone and everyone who’d listen that the plural of octopus, given that we’ve used Greek elements to build the word, is octopodes. I’m not too proud to say that I’m quite proud of my knowledge of many things linguistic.
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