octopus

/ˈɒktəpʊs/

//ˈɒktəpʊs// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"octopus" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“octopus” has 10 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #15,872. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#15,872
frequency rank, English
1,431
“O” headwords
10
tracked misspellings

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - 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.

Corpus desk

Index EN-octopus · octopus · English

octopus · rank #15,872 · 10 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #15,872
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-MID 10 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,431
  • PHOTO-FINISH onward

Nearest frequency peer: onward (+1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “octopus”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “octopus” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for octopus
PropertyValue
Headwordoctopus
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈɒktəpʊs/
Letters7
Frequency rank#15,872
Misspellings tracked10
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “octopus”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).octopuslands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “onward” (#15,873), “obscene” (#15,870), “NYPD” (#15,869). Among 1,431 “O” headwords, “octopus” is #15,872. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 10 spelling variants around octopus (IPA /ˈɒktəpʊs/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #15,872 among 1,431 “O” headwords. Wiktionary lists 6 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for octopus, with forms such as "cotopus", "occtopus", and "ocotpus". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Latin octōpūs, from Ancient Greek ὀκτώπους (oktṓpous), from ὀκτώ (oktṓ, “eight”) + πούς (poús, “foot”). Piecewise doublet of octopod and octopede. The correct English form is octopus, spelled O-C-T-O-P-U-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    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.
  2. 2
    A mollusc from genus Octopus.
  3. 3
    The flesh of these marine molluscs eaten as food.
  4. 4
    An organization that has many powerful branches controlled from the centre.
  5. 5
    An instance of a player scoring a touchdown immediately followed by a successful two-point conversion, resulting in a total score of eight points.
  6. 6
    A safety device allowing divers to share an air supply in an emergency.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how octopus appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Even octopuses without stylets almost certainly retain the molecular machinery necessary to build them.
  2. In terms of diversity, cephalopods include the egg case making argonauts, shelled nautiluses, venomous blue-ringed octopuses and enigmatic giants like the giant and colossal squid. […] Fossilised ink sacs are more conclusively known from the extinct “soft-bodied” Coleoidea cephalopods in groups Belemitida (including belemnites with bullet-like internal sk…

Etymology

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

Synonyms

polypus

This word in other languages

pulpo(Español)pieuvre(Français)Tintenfisch(Deutsch)polvo(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • cotopus
  • occtopus
  • ocotpus
  • octoppus
  • octopsu
  • octopuss
  • octoups
  • octpous
  • octtopus
  • otcopus

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of octopus - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

cotopus2occtopus1ocotpus2octoppus1octopsu2octopuss1octoups2octpous2
Edit distance from "octopus"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "octopus"?
"octopus" is spelled O-C-T-O-P-U-S. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈɒktəpʊs/.
What does "octopus" mean?
As a noun, "octopus" 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.
What are common misspellings of "octopus"?
Common misspellings include "cotopus", "occtopus", "ocotpus", "octoppus", "octopsu". The correct spelling is "octopus".
How do you pronounce "octopus"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "octopus" is /ˈɒktəpʊs/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "octopus"?
From Latin octōpūs, from Ancient Greek ὀκτώπους (oktṓpous), from ὀκτώ (oktṓ, “eight”) + πούς (poús, “foot”). Piecewise doublet of octopod and octopede. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "octopus", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

obscene#15,870ovarian#15,876Picasso#15,881pierced#15,882

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (10 here; floor ≥5).

martyr10 variantsplight10 variantslooting10 variantsleukemia10 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list