# octagon

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈɒktəɡ(ə)n/ · frequency rank #32,520

## Definitions
1. A polygon with eight sides and eight angles.
2. Often in the form Octagon: the arena for mixed martial arts.

## Etymology
From Latin octagōnon, octōgōnon (“octagon”), and from its etymon Ancient Greek ὀκτάγωνον (oktágōnon, “octagon”), probably from Koine Greek ὀκτάγωνος (oktágōnos, “having eight corners”) + -ον (-on, suffix forming nouns). ὀκτάγωνος is derived from ὀκτᾰ- (oktă-, prefix meaning ‘eight’) (from ὀκτώ (oktṓ, “eight”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *oḱtṓw (“eight”)) + γωνία (gōnía, “angle; corner”) (probably ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵónu (“knee”)); analysable as octa- + -gon. The English word is cognate with Middle French octogone (modern French octogone), Italian octagono (obsolete), ottagono, Spanish octágono, octógono.
Sense 2 (“arena for mixed martial arts”) refers to its shape.

## Easily confused with
- **Otago** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/octagon-vs-otago)
- **octagonal** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/octagon-vs-octagonal)

## Common misspellings (10)
`cotagon`, `ocatgon`, `occtagon`, `octaggon`, `octagno`, `octagonn`, `octaogn`, `octgaon`, `octtagon`, `otcagon`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/octagon