'apodes' originates from Ancient Greek, specifically the word 'ἀπόδες' (apódes), where the prefix 'a-' meant 'without' and 'pous' meant 'foot'.

'apodes' was adopted into Latin/early scientific Latin and used by naturalists (for example in 18th-century classifications) as the name for groups of 'footless' fishes; over time formal taxonomy replaced such group names with modern orders like 'Anguilliformes'.

Initially it meant 'without feet' in Greek, but in scientific usage it came to denote a group of footless animals (notably eels); today the term is largely archaic and rarely used in modern taxonomy.