Is Octopuses a Word?

Eight tentacles, three plural forms, and only one right way to say it. ... Grammatically speaking, the plural for octopus is octopuses. As the Merriam-Webster dictionary points out, people use three different terms, however: octopi, octopuses, and octopodes. While “octopi” has become popular in modern usage, it's wrong.

Why is the plural of octopus octopuses?

The three main plurals for octopus come from the different ways the English language adopts plurals. Octopi is the oldest plural of octopus, coming from the belief that Latin origins should have Latin endings. Octopuses is the next plural, which gives the word an English ending to match its adoption as an English word.

When did octopuses become a word?

When “octopus” was first mentioned in the English language in the mid-1700s, it was pluralized as “octopuses.” That said, some grammarians wanted English to be like the less irregular Latin language, so they started putting Latin pluralizations on Latin-based English words, which led to “octopi.”