Tempusfugitiv: Plural Form Of Octopus

Plural Form Of Octopus

It is the most commonly accepted plural form of octopus. Any octopod excepting the paper nautilus.

Cute Octopi

Octopuses is the most often used form cited in references in the us but other forms are accepted such as octopi and octopodes.

Plural form of octopus. The alternative plural octopi which wrongly assumes it is a latin second declension us noun or adjective when in either greek or latin. Octopi the supposed plural of octopus is a favorite among fans of quirky words but it has no etymological basis. The i was a mistake but so many people adopted it that it became an acceptable alternative.

Octopuses is the next plural which gives the word an english ending as its been adopted as an english word. In latin some plurals end with an i. Probably the octopi have separate hatcheries where they raise them for food.

Purism however also has its barbarisms such as the quasiclassical plurals octopi and syllabi for octopus and syllabus competing with octopuses and syllabuses. The correct forms are octopuses octopodes or octopi. The problem is octopus derives from greek.

Octopus is not a simple latin word of the second declension but a latinized form of the greek word oktopous and its correct plural would logically be octopodes. Stick with octopuses in the us. Why do some dictionaries also list octopi as a possibility.

Like many nouns it has a few acceptable plural forms. There are several plural forms of the word octopus. The form was created by english speakers out of a mistaken belief that octopus is latin and hence pluralized with an i ending.

Octopi is the oldest plural of octopus coming from the belief that latin origins should have latin endings. The standard pluralised form of octopus in english is octopuses. The plural is octopuses.

Other words ending in us show a very varied pattern. How do you make octopus plural. Any of a genus octopus of cephalopod mollusks that have eight muscular arms equipped with two rows of suckers broadly.

The ancient greek plural ὀκτώποδες octopodes ɒkˈtɒpədiːz has also been used historically.

What Is The Plural Of Octopus