- October
- \ \ [OE] The Romans calculated the beginning of their year from March, and so the eighth month was called octōber or octōbris mēnsis, literally ‘eighth month’ (terms derived from Latin octō ‘eight’). Other English words derived from Latin octō or its close Greek relative októ include octagon [17], octane [19], octave [14], octet [19], and octopus [18] (from Greek októpous, literally ‘eightfoot’).\ \ Cf.⇒ OCTANE, OCTAVE, OCTOPUS
Word origins - 2ed. J. Ayto. 2005.