Etymology

octopus

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Today it means: Any of several marine molluscs of the order Octopoda, having no internal or external protective shell or bone (unlike the nautilus, squid and cuttlefish) and eight arms each covered with suckers. Full definition →

Latin octōpūs ← Ancient Greek ὀκτώπους (oktṓpous) ← Proto-Indo-European *pṓds
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*oḱtṓw
  2. Proto-Hellenic*oktṓ
  3. Ancient Greekὀκτώ (oktṓ)
  4. Proto-Indo-European*ped-
  5. Proto-Indo-European*pṓds
  6. Ancient Greekπούς (poús)
  7. Ancient Greekὀκτώπους (oktṓpous)
  8. Latinoctōpūs
  9. English todayoctopus

Borrowed from Latin octōpūs, from Ancient Greek ὀκτώπους (oktṓpous), from ὀκτώ (oktṓ, “eight”) + πούς (poús, “foot”). Piecewise doublet of octopod and octopede.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.