polypus

polypus

English

Etymology

From Latin polypus, from Ancient Greek πολύπους (polúpous). Doublet of polyp.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈpɑlɪpəs/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈpɒlɪpəs/
• Hyphenation: pol‧y‧pus

Noun

polypus (plural polypi or polypuses)

1. (hematology, pathology) A cardiac thrombus usually found post-mortem.
   • 1898, Werner's magazine (volume 20)

     The nasal passages should be carefully examined for symptoms of stegnosis, enlargement of the turbinated bones, polypi, etc.

2. (archaic) An octopus.

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Latin

Etymology

From Ancient Greek πολύπους (polúpous) (or from Doric Ancient Greek πώλυπος (pṓlupos) for the variant with long ō).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈpo.ly.pus/, [ˈpɔlʲʏpʊs̠]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈpo.li.pus/, [ˈpɔːlipus]

or

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈpoː.ly.pus/, [ˈpoːlʲʏpʊs̠]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈpo.li.pus/, [ˈpɔːlipus]

Noun

pō̆lypus m (genitive pō̆lypī); second declension

1. octopus
2. cuttlefish
3. nasal tumor

Usage notes

• A variant with long ō is found occasionally in Ovid and Horace, perhaps to make the meter scan more easily; this variant has its origin in the Doric Greek form of the noun.

Declension

Second-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	pō̆lypus	pō̆lypī
Genitive	pō̆lypī	pō̆lypōrum
Dative	pō̆lypō	pō̆lypīs
Accusative	pō̆lypum	pō̆lypōs
Ablative	pō̆lypō	pō̆lypīs
Vocative	pō̆lype	pō̆lypī

Descendants

• Asturian: pulpu
• Catalan: pop, → pòlip
• → English: polypus, polyp
• French: pieuvre, poulpe, → polype
• Galician: polbo, → pólipo
• → German: Polyp
• Italian: piovra, polipo, polpo
• Norman: pieuvre (Jersey, Guernsey)
• Occitan: pofre
• Portuguese: polvo, → pólipo
• Sardinian: pruppu (Campidanese)
• Sicilian: purpu
• Spanish: pulpo, → pólipo
• Venetian: folpo

References

• “polypus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “polypus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• polypus in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• polypus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette