Etymologically
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octopus

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɔkˈtoː.puːs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [okˈtɔː.pus][1]

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]

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