I’m writing a paper on cephalopods and I’m wondering what plural of octopus I should use? I was taught octopi, but I’ve seen a lot of people say octopuses was the correct one, and trying to Google it brought octopods into the mix?? Which one is correct, or does it not even matter which I use?
Full Disclosure, I’ve failed English Three Times and I’m mostly publishing this ask so someone more qualified can answer but:
I think Octopus is greek, like Oedipus. Octopi would be the latin-style pluralization, and incorrect. Octopodes is correct but not commonly used, Octopuses is also correct and more commonly used.
Your Best Bet, I think is to email your teacher and ask how to sort out the problem of picking the right plural so you have the tools to do it right in the future. Which will 1. give you the right plural, 2. emage with your teacher in a way that makes you look really good and 3. let you pick the right plural again in the future!
Octopus is a modern English word put together from Greek roots. The plural of the Greek -pus (foot) is indeed -podes, so if you’re being excruciatingly pedantic (as I almost always am), it is Etymologically Correct. It’s also the last of the three plurals to appear in English. 😛
Octopuses is a perfectly correct English plural form of an English word.
Octopi is an abomination, a Latin plural ending on a Greek stem, but by the rules of descriptivism, is also correct English, because it is very commonly used.
So yeah, ask your teacher which one they want you to use (not which one is right, which one they prefer).