tetrapods
|tet-ra-pods|
🇺🇸
/ˈtɛtrəˌpɑd/
🇬🇧
/ˈtɛtrəpɒd/
(tetrapod)
four-footed creature
Etymology
'tetrapod' originates from Greek, specifically the word 'tetrapous', where 'tetra-' meant 'four' and 'pous' meant 'foot'.
'tetrapod' changed from the Greek element 'tetrapous' into New Latin/Scientific Latin 'Tetrapoda' and was adopted into English scientific usage as 'tetrapod'.
Initially it literally meant 'four-footed', and this core meaning was retained as it became the technical term for the clade of four-limbed vertebrates.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
vertebrate animals that have, or historically had, four limbs or limb-like appendages (includes amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals).
Many tetrapods evolved adaptations for life on land.
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Noun 2
members of the clade Tetrapoda — a taxonomic grouping including all modern and extinct vertebrates descended from the first four-limbed ancestors.
Paleontologists study early tetrapods to understand the transition from water to land.
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Last updated: 2025/12/11 01:00