An excellent question! The original Greek word was âoktĆpousâ which was latinized/modernized to âoctopus.â Because of this Greek root, the original plural is âoctopodesâ (oktáčpodes). However, the most common plural form in English is âoctopuses,â which is what we use here at the Aquarium.
The plural âoctopiâ comes from the incorrect assumption that âoctopusâ is a Latin word. But, itâs so popular that itâs in the dictionary, and even though itâs not technically correct, it still gets the point across that youâre potentially dealing with several octopuses, so go for it if thatâs what works for you.
Tl;dr: âOctopusesâ is the plural we use here at the Aquarium, âoctopodesâ if youâre texting Poseidon, and âoctopiâ also works, especially when ordering eight desserts.Â
