ὀκτώπους

Ancient Greek

Etymology

From ὀκτώ (oktṓ, “eight”) +‎ πούς (poús, “foot”).

Pronunciation

(5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /ok.tɔ̌ː.poːs/
(1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /okˈto.pus/
(4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /okˈto.pus/
(10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /okˈto.pus/
(15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /okˈto.pus/

Adjective

ὀκτώπους • (oktṓpous) m, f (neuter ὀκτώπουν); third declension

eight-footed

Inflection

Third declension of ὀκτώπους; ὀκτώπουν (Attic)

Number	Singular		Dual		Plural
Case/Gender	Masculine / Feminine	Neuter	Masculine / Feminine	Neuter	Masculine / Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	ὀκτώπους oktṓpous	ὀκτώπουν oktṓpoun	ὀκτώποδε oktṓpode	ὀκτώποδε oktṓpode	ὀκτώποδες oktṓpodes	ὀκτώποδᾰ oktṓpoda
Genitive	ὀκτώποδος oktṓpodos	ὀκτώποδος oktṓpodos	ὀκτωπόδοιν oktōpódoin	ὀκτωπόδοιν oktōpódoin	ὀκτωπόδων oktōpódōn	ὀκτωπόδων oktōpódōn
Dative	ὀκτώποδῐ oktṓpodi	ὀκτώποδῐ oktṓpodi	ὀκτωπόδοιν oktōpódoin	ὀκτωπόδοιν oktōpódoin	ὀκτώποσῐ / ὀκτώποσῐν oktṓposi(n)	ὀκτώποσῐ / ὀκτώποσῐν oktṓposi(n)
Accusative	ὀκτώποδᾰ oktṓpoda	ὀκτώπουν oktṓpoun	ὀκτώποδε oktṓpode	ὀκτώποδε oktṓpode	ὀκτώποδᾰς oktṓpodas	ὀκτώποδᾰ oktṓpoda
Vocative	ὀκτώπους oktṓpous	ὀκτώπουν oktṓpoun	ὀκτώποδε oktṓpode	ὀκτώποδε oktṓpode	ὀκτώποδες oktṓpodes	ὀκτώποδᾰ oktṓpoda
Derived forms	Adverb		Comparative		Superlative
Derived forms	ὀκτωπόδως oktōpódōs		—		—
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Noun

ὀκτώπους • (oktṓpous) m (genitive ὀκτώποδος); third declension

octopus

Inflection

Third declension of ὁ ὀκτώπους; τοῦ ὀκτώποδος (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ ὀκτώπους ho oktṓpous	τὼ ὀκτώποδε tṑ oktṓpode	οἱ ὀκτώποδες hoi oktṓpodes
Genitive	τοῦ ὀκτώποδος toû oktṓpodos	τοῖν ὀκτωπόδοιν toîn oktōpódoin	τῶν ὀκτωπόδων tôn oktōpódōn
Dative	τῷ ὀκτώποδῐ tôi oktṓpodi	τοῖν ὀκτωπόδοιν toîn oktōpódoin	τοῖς ὀκτώποσῐ / ὀκτώποσῐν toîs oktṓposi(n)
Accusative	τὸν ὀκτώποδᾰ tòn oktṓpoda	τὼ ὀκτώποδε tṑ oktṓpode	τοὺς ὀκτώποδᾰς toùs oktṓpodas
Vocative	ὀκτώπους oktṓpous	ὀκτώποδε oktṓpode	ὀκτώποδες oktṓpodes
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension. Nominative singular -ς (-s) arose by reduction of the original cluster *-ds.

Descendants

Many words for "octopus" in other languages are calques of "eight-foot" or from Latin polypus. Some languages have more than one word for octopus from these sources, or from other sources altogether. Some of the languages that do have a word for "octopus" ultimately from this Ancient Greek source may also have a more primary term from another source.

Arabic: أخطبوط‎ (ʼuḫṭubūṭ)
Bulgarian: октоподи (oktopodi)
Czech: oktopoda
Dutch: octopus
English: octopus
- Irish: ochtapas
Greek: χταπόδι (chtapódi)
- plural: χταπόδια (chtapódia)
Kurdish: ahtepot
Latin: octopus (plural octopodes)
Persian: اختاپوس‎
Serbo-Croatian: октопод (oktopod)
Spanish: octopoda
Turkish: ahtapot

References

ὀκτώπους in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
ὀκτώπους in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
ὀκτώπους in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
ὀκτώπους in Trapp, Erich, et al. (1994–2007) Lexikon zur byzantinischen Gräzität besonders des 9.-12. Jahrhunderts [the Lexicon of Byzantine Hellenism, Particularly the 9th–12th Centuries], Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften