octopus

(ˈɒktəpəs, ɒkˈtəʊpəs)Pl. octopodes (ɒkˈtəʊpədiːz), anglicized octopuses.[mod.L. octōpus, a. Gr. ὀκτώπους, acc. ὀκτώποδ-α eight-footed, f. ὀκτώ eight + πούς, πόδ- foot.]

octopus

A genus of cephalopod molluscs, characterized by eight `arms' surrounding the mouth and provided with suckers; an individual of this genus (esp. one of the larger and more formidable species).

1758: Baker in Phil. Trans. L. 778 “The Polypus, particularly so called, the Octopus, Preke, or Pour-contrel.”

1835: Kirby Hab. & Inst. Anim. I. x. 308 “The body of the octopus is small, it has legs sometimes a foot and a half in length, with about two hundred and forty suckers on each leg.”

1880: Browning Pietro of Abano 401 “Help! The old magician clings like an octopus!”

1884: H. M. Leathes Rough Notes Nat. Hist. 46 “Saying that enormous octopuses existed on the western side of Panama, in the Pacific Ocean.”

octopus

b. fig.; usually applied to an organized power having extended ramifications and far-reaching influence, esp. harmful or destructive.

1882: Greg Misc. Ess. ii. 37 “We are the very octopus of nations.”

1893: Boston (Mass.) Jrnl. 25 Mar. 2/1 “The electric octopus. Formal organization of the New England Street Railway Company.”

1894: Westm. Gaz. 12 Mar. 2/1 “He was an administrative octopus, a cormorant of toil.”

octopus

c. attrib. and Comb.

1880: G. Meredith Tragic Com. (1881) 206 “Then they laid octopus-limbs on her.”

1894: Outing (U.S.) XXIV. 460/1 “An octopus power sought to tear the human limpet from its clinging place.”

1898: P. Manson Trop. Diseases i. 9 “A strange-looking octopus-like creature.”

a simple reply to this would be that in no dictionary 'pu' comes before 'po' :)

granted, octopodes comes under the heading of octopus, as it's plural, so it is technically after.

but following the loose nature of the quote in hand, it is also in fact true that octopi comes before octopuses, it just so happens to be attached to the full word 'octopian' - suggestive of an octopus