The word “octopus” has nearly as many plural forms as the creature does legs. Well, not quite, but there are three versions that are commonly used (and debated): “octopi,” “octopuses,” and “octopodes.” You may be thinking, “It’s all Greek to me.” But it’s not hard to explain, and one of the plurals actually does have origins in Greek.
“Octopi” is perhaps the most common, yet still irregular, pluralization of “octopus.” It comes from an early-19th-century tradition of giving natural-world nouns that end in “-us” the Latin plural ending, which is “-i.”This is the case with words such as “platypus” (“platypi”) and “cactus” (“cacti”) that have Latin roots. However, since “octopus” is originally derived from Greek (oktō meaning “eight” and pous meaning “foot”), not Latin, some etymologists (including those at the Oxford English Dictionary) argue that the plural “octopi,” while commonly used, is not technically accurate.
(Editor’s note: The New York Times crossword has used “octopi” several times as an answer. As the puzzle editors have yet to respond to my letters asserting the error, I have to assume they believe it is the correct plural. —JF)
“Octopuses” is another plural form of “octopus” that came into use a bit later in the 19th century. It’s based on the standard practice of adding “-es” to the end of an English word ending in “s” in order to make it plural. Think “buses,” “mattresses,” “glasses,” and so on.
Lastly, let’s talk about Oxford’s choice for the plural: “octopodes.” The word “octopus” originally came from the Greek oktṓpous, meaning “eight foot.” In Greek, the plural of that word is oktṓpodes, and in English, that plural is “octopodes” (pronounced “ahk-TOH-poh-deez”). While this is perhaps the least likely contender for the correct plural of “octopus” if you were to ask people on the street, it is the most etymologically accurate. Now you have a new fun fact for cocktail parties.
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