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octopus

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oc⋅to⋅pus

  [ok-tuh-puhs]
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–noun, plural -pus⋅es, -pi  [-pahy] .
1. any octopod of the genus Octopus, having a soft, oval body and eight sucker-bearing arms, living mostly at the bottom of the sea.
2. something likened to an octopus, as an organization with many forms of far-reaching influence or control.
Origin:
1750–60; < NL < Gk oktpous (pl. oktpodes) eight-footed; see octo-, -pod
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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oc·to·pus   (ŏk'tə-pəs)   
n.   pl. oc·to·pus·es or oc·to·pi (-pī')

  1. Any of numerous carnivorous marine mollusks of the genus Octopus or related genera, found worldwide. The octopus has a rounded soft body, eight arms with each bearing two rows of suckers, a large distinct head, and a strong beaklike mouth. Also called devilfish.

  2. Something, such as a multinational corporation, that has many powerful, centrally controlled branches.


[New Latin Octōpūs, genus name, from Greek oktōpous, eight-footed : oktō, eight; see oktō(u) in Indo-European roots + pous, foot; see ped- in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

octopus 
1758, genus name of a type of eight-armed cephalopod mollusks, from Gk. oktopous "eight-footed," from okto "eight" (see eight) + pous "foot." Proper plural is octopodes, though octopuses probably works better in English. Octopi is from mistaken assumption that -us is the L. noun ending that takes -i in plural.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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