before vowels oct-, word-forming element meaning "eight," from Greek okta-, okt-, from PIE *okto(u) "eight" (see eight). The variant form octo- often appears in words taken from Latin, but the Greek form is said to be the more common in English.
ocelot
ocher
ochlocracy
ochre
-ocracy
octa-
octad
octagon
octagonal
octahedron
octane