'apodous' originates from Ancient Greek, specifically the word 'apous' (ἀπούς), where the prefix 'a-' meant 'not' or 'without' and 'pous' (πούς) meant 'foot'.

'apodous' entered scientific usage via New Latin/Neo-Latin (e.g. 'apodus' or 'apodous') from Greek 'apous', and was adopted into English primarily in biological and taxonomic contexts.

Initially it meant 'without feet' in the original Greek sense, and this core meaning has been retained in modern scientific English.