'apoda' originates from New Latin, specifically the word 'Apoda', where the prefix 'a-' meant 'without' and Greek 'pous/pod-' (via Latinized form) meant 'foot'.

'apoda' changed from Ancient Greek 'ápous' (Greek: ἀπούς) meaning 'without foot' and was Latinized in New Latin as 'Apoda', later adopted into scientific English as the taxonomic name 'apoda'.

Initially, it meant 'without feet'; over time it became used as a taxonomic name for limbless amphibians (caecilians).