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octopus

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also:Octopus

English

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EnglishWikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia
Asouthern blue-ringed octopus (Hapalochlaena maculosa, anoctopus)
A small octopus served as part of anappetizer in a Chinese restaurant inSingapore

Etymology

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FromLatinoctōpūs, fromAncient Greekὀκτώπους(oktṓpous), fromὀκτώ(oktṓ,“eight”) +πούς(poús,“foot”).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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octopus (countable anduncountable,pluraloctopusesor(nonstandard)octopussesor(nonstandard)octopior(nonstandard)octopiior(rare)octopodesor(rare, nonstandard)octopus)(see usage notes)

  2. (countable,loosely) Any of several marinemolluscs of the orderOctopoda, having no internal or external protective shell or bone (unlike thenautilus,squid andcuttlefish) andeight arms each covered withsuckers.
    • 2017, Danna Staaf,Squid Empire, ForeEdge,→ISBN, page120:
      Evenoctopuses without stylets almost certainly retain the molecular machinery necessary to build them.
    • 2022,Julia Armfield,Our Wives Under the Sea, Picador, page67:
      In one photograph, a teenaged Leah crouches by a tall cylindrical tank containing what she identified to me as a giant Pacificoctopus named Pamela.We were pals, she said, in a voice that I thought seemed to strive for offhandedness,did you know they taste with their skin?Octopuses, I mean.
  3. (countable,strictly) A mollusc from genusOctopus.
  4. (uncountable) Theflesh of these marine molluscs eaten as food.
  5. (countable) Anorganization that has many powerful branches controlled from the centre.

Usage notes

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  • The pluraloctopi is ahypercorrection, coming from the mistaken notion that the-us inoctōpūs is a Latinsecond declension ending. The word is actually treated as athird declension noun in Latin. The pluraloctopodes (Latin:octōpodēs) follows the Ancient Greek plural,ὀκτώποδες(oktṓpodes). The pluraloctopii is based on an incorrect attempt to pluralise the word based on an incorrect assumption of its origin, and is rare and widely considered to be nonstandard.
  • Sources differ on which plurals are acceptable:Fowler's Modern English Usage asserts that “the only acceptable plural in English isoctopuses”, whileMerriam-Webster and other dictionaries acceptoctopi as a plural form. TheOxford English Dictionary listsoctopuses,octopi, andoctopodes (the order reflecting decreasing frequency of use), stating that the last form is rare. Theonline Oxford dictionary states that the standard plural isoctopuses, thatoctopodes is still occasionally used, and thatoctopi is incorrect.
  • The termoctopod (bothoctopods andoctopodes can be found as the plural) is taken from the taxonomic orderOctopoda but has no classical equivalent, and is not necessarily synonymous (it can encompass any member of that order). The uncountable use ofoctopus is usually reserved for octopus flesh consumed for food ("He ate too much octopus last night.").

Synonyms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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mollusc

See also

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Verb

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octopus (third-person singular simple presentoctopussesoroctopuses,present participleoctopussingoroctopusing,simple past and past participleoctopussedoroctopused)

  1. To put (or attempt to put) one's fingers, hands or arms in many things or places at roughly the same time.
    • 1994, Susan Ketchin,The Christ-haunted Landscape:
      He rises up on his wasted legs, the healer's handsoctopussed on his head.
    • 2006, Stuart Lloyd,Gone Troppo: Hot Babes, Warm Weather, Cold Beer. Paradise!:
      A skinny, sauced-looking gent in shorts and baseball cap wandered in through the door, his armsoctopussing no less than three pre-teen girls.
    • 2018, Derrick C. Brown,Hello. It Doesn't Matter.:
      I took off my shirt, standing in swim trunks, embarrassed of my tour body, my handsoctopussing around the ashamed drink tickets of my gut.
  2. To spread out in long arms or legs in many directions.
    • 1995, Donald A. Weatherby,The Star-Spangled Specter, page105:
      The bug-eyed pressoctopussed to their respective word processors.
    • 1997,The Unesco Courier - Volume 50, Issues 1-6, page33:
      Dirt roadsoctopussed into the interior, where there were more dried mud and shrivelled crops.
    • 2002, Susan Goyette,Lures: A Novel, page224:
      He had attached three more on so now there were seven legsoctopussing out from underneath the chair.
    • 2013, Jesse Hayworth, Jessica Andersen,Summer at Mustang Ridge:
      The main house was a sprawling gray two-story structure with breezeways connecting it to the dining hall and another large wing, making it look like it had outgrown itself andoctopused to the other spaces.
  3. To plug a large number of devices into a single electric outlet.
    • 1963,Hardware Age - Volume 203, Issues 7-10, page88:
      If they're all for a single indoor tree, caution against "octopusing" of cords from other cords, and the use of a number of cords in a single receptacle.
    • 1985, Ted C. Williams,The Reservation, page206:
      By now, the reservation had electricity so THAT had to beoctopussed out to the trailers too.
    • 2010, Arthur Nersesian,Mesopotamia, page53:
      The three electrical outlets I could see—though located six feet above the ground, beyond all their little reaches—wereoctopussed with what looked like more plugs than the circuits could handle.
    • 2011, Richard Sanders,Dead Heat, page74:
      It was an eight-channel audio recording snake, a bundled set of cables with eight plugsoctopussing out of either end.
  4. (by extension) To grow in use vastly beyond what was originally intended.
    • 1937,Fight Against War and Fascism - Volumes 5-6, page34:
      The interlocking business organizations haveoctopussed beyond all imagining in recent years; they are intermingled with citizens' union-smashing committees and women's strikebreaking “patriotic” groups, such as Neutral Thousands and Women of the Pacific.
    • 1953,Dun's Review and Modern Industry‎[1], volume 62, August-December 1953, page256:
      The busy man will do two things at once in his office; and with a little forethought he can practise what psychologist Freeman calls "brainoctopussing" at home, too.
    • 1978, William Edward Field,A Review of the Undergraduate Program in Agricultural Education at the University of Minnesota, 1977‎[2], page349:
      The course of study should be rooted in a survey of the needs of the community and not "octopussed" from swivel chair courses of study prepared for other areas.
    • 1993, Mohammad Abdul Mannan,Growth and development of small enterprise, page92:
      The performance of it, however, did not improve, beingoctopussed by centuries-old not-to-move bureaucracy.
    • 2000, Murray Bromberg,The Wagers of Sin, page102:
      Judging by the way that Boots wasoctopussing himself into the world of the stud farm and mastering the intricacies of thoroughbred financing, he was well on his way to raping Sport of Kings.
  5. To hunt and catch octopuses.
    • 1956,Travel - Volume 105, page46:
      The sport could be calledoctopusing or octopus hunting— and any number may play. Supposing you catch an octopus, what do you have?
    • 1977, Peter Howorth,Foraging Along the California Coast‎[3], Capra Press,→ISBN, page97:
      CRABBING ANDOCTOPUSSING: Use the same method whether you skindive for crabs and octopi or gather them intertidally.
    • 1993, Poyer Lin,NGATIK MASSACRE PB, page163:
      The municipal council assigned food quotas to each section and family contributions within sections. People spent the days before the visit fishing,octopusing, digging taro, cooking, and cleaning public spaces.
  6. To behave like an octopus.
    • 1995, Donald A. Weatherby,The Star-Spangled Specter, page77:
      Night fell especially dark and cold for August, inky blackness tendrilling in,octopussing even the street lamps, now dim with vague form.
    • 2009, Becky Citra,Whiteout, page20:
      “Strangled in the middle of the night by one of Molly's eight legs.”
      “Mo-om!” Molly kicked Robin in the shins.
      “Owww!” Robin lunged against the door. “I've beenoctopused!”
    • 2015, Natasha Pulley,The Watchmaker of Filigree Street:
      It was quite a conincidence for a mechanical sea creature and he was speculating whether it could possibly have been done on purpose when Katsu stole his other sock and flopped on to the floor with an unbiological bang, whereupon itoctopused out of the open door and slid down the banister.

Anagrams

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Dutch

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Etymology

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FromAncient Greekὀκτώπους(oktṓpous), fromὀκτώ(oktṓ,“eight”) +πούς(poús,“foot”).

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key):/ˈɔktoːpʏs/
  • Audio:(file)
  • Hyphenation:oc‧to‧pus

Noun

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octopus m (pluraloctopussen,diminutiveoctopusje n)

  1. octopus

Latin

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Etymology

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FromAncient Greekὀκτώπους(oktṓpous,“eight feet”).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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octōpūs m (genitiveoctōpodis);third declension

  1. (New Latin)octopus
    • 1825, Willem de Haan,Monographiæ ammoniteorum et goniatiteorum specimen, page10:
      Jam vero testa in hac familia sola universalis pars est,Octopodis tantum exceptis.
      Now truly a shell is a part universal in this single family,octopus the notable exception.

Declension

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Third-declension noun.

singularplural
nominativeoctōpūsoctōpodēs
genitiveoctōpodisoctōpodum
dativeoctōpodīoctōpodibus
accusativeoctōpodemoctōpodēs
ablativeoctōpodeoctōpodibus
vocativeoctōpūsoctōpodēs

See also

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