Re:OT: plural of octopus...
- To: Multiple recipients of list <i*@rt66.com>
- Subject: Re:OT: plural of octopus...
- From: C* H* <c*@netcom.ca>
- Date: Tue, 12 May 1998 13:19:47 -0600 (MDT)
Ann Pearce wrote:
> The official plural of octopus is octopodes, as the word originally comes
> from Greek, rather than Latin....in which case irides would seem a definite
> possibility!
Your official plural version would seem to differ somewhat from the accepted
dictionary plural and from what I learned at school.... any further on this
should probably go off list as starting to get far OT.
Main Entry: oc7to7pus
Pronunciation: 'dk-t&-p&s, -"pus
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural -pus7es or oc7to7pi /-"pI/
Etymology: New Latin Octopod-, Octopus, from Greek oktOpous
Date: 1758
1 : any of a genus (Octopus) of cephalopod mollusks that have eight muscular
arms equipped with two rows of suckers; broadly : any octopod excepting the
paper nautilus
2 : something that resembles an octopus especially in having many centrally
directed branches
--
Christopher Hollinshead
Mississauga, Ontario Canada zone6b
AIS(Region 16), CIS, SSI
Director-Canadian Iris Society
Newsletter Editor-Canadian Iris Society
e-mail: cris@netcom.ca
CIS website: http://www.netcom.ca/~cris/CIS.html
