pod

The combining form –pod is used like a suffix meaning “one having a foot” or “-footed.” It is often used to denote a single member of a class in zoology. For example, a member of the class Cephalopoda (which includes mollusks like squid), is a cephalopod.

The form –pod comes from Greek –pous, meaning “-footed.” The Latin cognate of –pous is –pēs, “-footed,” and is the source of several combining forms related to the lower extremities, including –ped, –pede, and pedi–. Discover more at our Words That Use articles for each of these three forms.

What are the variants of -pod? 

Though -pod doesn’t have any variants, it shares an origin with the combining forms pod-, podo–, –poda, –pode, –podium, and –podous. Want to know more? Read our Words That Use articles for all six forms.

An example of a word you may have encountered that features –pod is tripod, “a stool or table with three legs.” Tripod comes from Greek tripod-, which features the equivalent of the form in that language.

The tri– part of the word means “three,” from Greek treîs, while the form –pod means “-footed.” Tripod literally translates to “three-footed.”

What are some words that use the combining form –pod?

• brachiopod (using the equivalent form of –pod in Latin)
• decapod (using the equivalent form of –pod in Latin)
• gonopod
• isopod (using the equivalent form of –pod in Latin)
• monopod
• octopod (using the equivalent form of –pod in Latin)

What are some other forms that –pod may be commonly confused with?

• -pedia
• -penia
• -ploid

Not every word that ends with the exact letters –pod, such as seedpod, is necessarily using the combining form –pod to denote “-footed.” Learn why seedpod means “seed vessel” at our entry for the word.

The combining form octo– means “eight.” With this in mind, what does octopod literally mean?