octopus

Forms

octōpūs m (genitive octōpodis); third declension^[1] The TLL gives it as of common gender, with a nominative octopoda in Alexander of Tralles.^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek ὀκτώπους (oktṓpous, “eight-footed”),^[1][3][2] from ὀκτώ (oktṓ, “eight”) and πούς (poús, “foot”).^[1][3] The TLL compares octipēs “eight-footed”, formed in Latin itself.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL's first witness is Pliny Valerianus, who uses it of the squid (lolligo) as the creature with eight feet.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In Late Latin it was rare: the Latin Alexander of Tralles has the nominative octopoda.^[2] In New Latin it became the name of the octopus itself.^[1]

Timeline

• c. 525–c. 605 AD – The Latin Alexander of Tralles has the form octopoda.^[2][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Late Latin) An eight-footed sea creature, said of the squid.^[2]
2. (New Latin) An octopus.^[1]

Related words

• English octopus

Usage notes

Scholars once tried to read the word into Petronius (35.4) in place of the transmitted oclopetam.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
3. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de