octopus

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a soft-bodied sea animal with eight sucker-bearing arms

   The octopus changed color as it moved across the reef.

2. 2
   noun

   the flesh of an octopus prepared as food

   The chef served grilled octopus with lemon and herbs.

From scientific Latin octopus, from Greek oktōpous, formed from oktō, 'eight,' + pous, 'foot.' The original compound therefore means 'eight-footed.' The historically regular plural is octopuses; octopi arose later from a mistaken Latin-style analysis.

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