ὀκτώπους

Ancient Greek

Etymology

Bahuvrīhi compound of ὀκτώ (oktṓ, “eight”) +‎ πούς (poús, “foot”).

Pronunciation

(5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /ok.tɔ̌ː.puːs/
(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 or 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 oktṓpodă
Genitive	ὀκτώποδος oktṓpodos	ὀκτώποδος oktṓpodos	ὀκτωπόδοιν oktōpódoin	ὀκτωπόδοιν oktōpódoin	ὀκτωπόδων oktōpódōn	ὀκτωπόδων oktōpódōn
Dative	ὀκτώποδῐ oktṓpodĭ	ὀκτώποδῐ oktṓpodĭ	ὀκτωπόδοιν oktōpódoin	ὀκτωπόδοιν oktōpódoin	ὀκτώποσῐ / ὀκτώποσῐν oktṓposĭ(n)	ὀκτώποσῐ / ὀκτώποσῐν oktṓposĭ(n)
Accusative	ὀκτώποδᾰ oktṓpodă	ὀκτώπουν oktṓpoun	ὀκτώποδε oktṓpode	ὀκτώποδε oktṓpode	ὀκτώποδᾰς oktṓpodăs	ὀκτώποδᾰ oktṓpodă
Vocative	ὀκτώπους oktṓpous	ὀκτώπουν oktṓpoun	ὀκτώποδε oktṓpode	ὀκτώποδε oktṓpode	ὀκτώποδες oktṓpodes	ὀκτώποδᾰ oktṓpodă
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 tōî oktṓpodĭ	τοῖν ὀκτωπόδοιν toîn oktōpódoin	τοῖς ὀκτώποσῐ / ὀκτώποσῐν toîs oktṓposĭ(n)
Accusative	τὸν ὀκτώποδᾰ tòn oktṓpodă	τὼ ὀκτώποδε tṑ oktṓpode	τοὺς ὀκτώποδᾰς toùs oktṓpodăs
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: أُخْطُبُوط (ʔuḵṭubūṭ)
Bulgarian: октопод (oktopod)
Czech: oktopoda
Dutch: octopus
English: octopus
- → Irish: ochtapas
Byzantine Greek: ὀκταπόδιν (oktapódin)
- Modern Greek: χταπόδι (chtapódi)
- → Turkish: ahtapot
  - → Northern Kurdish: ahtepot
  - → Zazaki: axtapot
Latin: octopus (plural octopodes)
Persian: اختاپوس (oxtâpus)
Serbo-Croatian: октопод (oktopod)
Spanish: octopoda

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