Few people have find out more than oneoctopusin the same place at the same time — they’re usually solitary creatures , after all — but let ’s hypothesise you did . What would you call them?Octopi?Octopuses ? Perhapsoctopodes ? citizenry have been squabble over the right plural variety ofoctopusfor well over a century , according to theMerriam - Websterdictionary , and it ’s still a sore spot among word - lover .
Quartzargues that only one way is grammatically correct — and it ’s notoctopi . Octopusstems from the Greek wordoktopous , and technically , Greek wordsending in - pus(likeplatypus ) should be made plural form by add -podes(meaning feet ) to the end . Romance dustup , on the other hand , are sometimes made plural form with an - iending — likestimuliandsyllabi , for example .
Since the wordoctopuswas originally Greek , it seems only legitimate that its plural form flesh would beoctopodes . Similarly , rhinocerosshould becomerhinocerotes , andstadiumshould becomestadia . However , using thesepretentious plural formsfor the sake of grammatical purity would be absurd . Most quarrel that enrol English are pluralized harmonize to the rules of English , rather than the formula of their “ aboriginal form , ” Merriam - Webster explains .
That leaves us withoctopuses . Indeed , this kind is perfectly correct , but some people still flinch when they say it . In the late 1800s , an article entitled “ Octopus Philology ” declare , “ Some daring spirits with piffling Latin and less Greek hasten uponoctopi ; as foroctopuses , a humans would as soon believe of swallowing one of the brute thus depict as pronounce such a Holy Scripture at a respectable tea - board . ” The article go on to recommend the use ofoctopods , which , luckily , did n’t stick .
However , both Merriam - Webster and the Oxford English Dictionary listoctopias an satisfactory plural form alongsideoctopuses . ( Octopiis also a validScrabble word . ) As the dictionary advises , " If you ’re concerned in choosing the word that is most probable to be considered correct and understandable by your consultation you would do well to prefer for eitheroctopusesoroctopi . "
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