Arturo Cephalopos

Arturo Cephalopos
Physical information
Species	Human
Gender	Male
Affiliation
Occupation	Wandmaker

Arturo Cephalopos was a wandmaker in the 19th century. During this period, silver lime was fashionable as a wand wood. He claimed that its alleged association with divination was "a falsehood circulated by merchants like Gerbold Ollivander, who have overstocked their workshops with it and hope to shift their surplus". However, according to Gerbold's grandson Garrick Ollivander, Cephalopos was a "slipshod wandmaker" and "an ignoramus", who, to no one's surprise, went out of business.

Etymology

Cephalopos might be of Greek origin (at least in his ancestry), as his surname's etymology (as well as surname formation) suggests.

• "Arturo" is the Italian/Spanish form of "Arthur", whose meaning is unknown. It could be derived from British art "bear" combined with viros "man", or it could be related to Irish art "stone". Alternatively it could be related to an obscure Roman family name Artorius. Arthur is the name of the central character in Arthurian legend, a 6th-century king of the Britons who presided over the knights of the Round Table.
• "Cephalopos" is a likely Greek compound word (though it resembles nothing like a modern Greek surname):
  • "cephalo" from the Ancient Greek κεφαλή (kephalḗ), meaning "head" (in biology, the "brain"), and is the origin of the English prefix "cephalo-" & suffix "-cephalic" .
  • "pos" from either:
    • πούς (poús), meaning "leg/foot" (and thru its derivative "ποδός" (podós), the origin of the English prefix "-pod")
    • πως (pōs), Greek adverb meaning "how?" or "in what way?"
  • Put together, "cephalopos" suggests an individual with a low intelligence, essentially a foreshadowing of his character ("ignoramus") & fate (his wand business came under).

Appearances

• Pottermore (First mentioned)
• Harry Potter (website) (Mentioned only)