ὀκτάγωνος

Forms

ὀκτάγωνος (oktágōnos) m or f (neuter ὀκτάγωνον); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is a compound from Ancient Greek ὀκτώ (oktṓ, “eight”) + γωνία (gōníā, “angle, corner”), with the combining form ὀκτα- (okta-).^[2][3][4] It is made like ἑπτάγωνος (heptágōnos, “seven-cornered”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The neuter used as a noun, “an octagon”, is first found in a fragment of Antiphon the Sophist in the 5th century BC.^[1][5]

Semantic evolution

The adjective, “eight-cornered”, belongs to the language of mathematics and technical writing: Archimedes, the astronomer Geminus, Heron, Nicomachus and the physician Alexander of Tralles use it, and Josephus uses it in the Jewish War.^[1][6] The neuter ὀκτάγωνον was the geometrical figure.^[1][7] In the Byzantine period the noun named an octagonal building in Constantinople, and the feminine a hall of the imperial palace of that shape.^[4]

Latin took over the word as octagonos.^[8] English octagon (1650s) comes from it, partly also through French.^[9] Modern Greek οκτάγωνος (oktágonos), also οχτάγωνος (ochtágonos) in the popular form, means “eight-cornered”, and the neuter οκτάγωνο (oktágono) is the octagon.^[7][10]

Timeline

• 5th century BC – Antiphon the Sophist uses the neuter for an octagon.^[1][5]
• 3rd century BC – Archimedes uses the adjective.^[6]
• 1st century BC – Geminus uses it in his astronomical introduction.^[1][6]
• 1st century AD – Josephus uses it in the Jewish War.^[6]
• 6th century AD – Alexander of Tralles uses it.^[1]
• 1650s – English borrows octagon through Latin.^[9]
• Modern Greek – οκτάγωνος (oktágonos), with the popular form οχτάγωνος (ochtágonos), means “eight-cornered”.^[7]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Having eight corners or angles, octagonal.^[1][3][11]

Noun

1. (neuter, ὀκτάγωνον) An octagon.^[1][5]
2. (Byzantine) An octagonal building in Constantinople; in the feminine, an octagonal hall of the imperial palace.^[4]

Related words

• ὀκτώ (oktṓ)
• γωνία (gōníā)
• Latin octagonos
• English octagon

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
2. ^ Köbler, Gerhard, Griechisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, online ed., https://www.koeblergerhard.de
3. ^ a b Bailly, Anatole (2020), Dictionnaire grec-français, Bailly 2020 Hugo Chávez ed., ed. Gérard Gréco et al.
4. ^ a b c d Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
5. ^ a b c Charbonnet, André (2025), Chæréphon, v4.7: supplement to Bailly from papyri, inscriptions and recent lexica
6. ^ a b c d Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
7. ^ a b c Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
8. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
10. ^ Τεγόπουλος, Γ.; Φυτράκης, Ε. (1997), Μείζον Ελληνικό Λεξικό, Athens: Αρμονία
11. ^ Korinthios, J. (2025), Grande Dizionario Greco Classico: Greco–Italiano, digital ed., Milan: Hoepli