octagon

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun an eight-sided polygon

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.

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