pedo-

¹ American  

especially British, paido-,

1. a combining form meaning “child,” used in the formation of compound words.

   pedophilia.

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pedo- ² American  

1. a combining form meaning “soil,” used in the formation of compound words.

   pedocal.

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pedo- ¹ British  

combining form

1. variants (esp US) of paedo-

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pedo- ² British  

combining form

1. indicating soil

   pedocal

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Usage

What does pedo- mean? Pedo- is a combining form used like a prefix that has two distinct senses. The first of these senses is “child,” and this form of pedo- is occasionally used in a variety of scientific and technical terms. The form pedo- in this sense comes from Greek paîs, meaning “child.”The second of these senses is “soil,” and this form of pedo- is used very rarely in some scientific terms. The form pedo- in this sense comes from Greek pédon, meaning “ground” or “earth.”What are variants of pedo- with the sense “child”?When combined with words or word elements that begin with a vowel, pedo- becomes ped-, as in pedagogue, from Greek paidagōgós. Want to know more? Read our Words That Use article on ped-. In British English, pedo- in this sense is chiefly spelled paedo-, as in paedology. Another variant spelling of pedo- is paido-, as in paidophobia. What are variants of pedo- with the sense “soil”?When combined with words or word elements that begin with a vowel, pedo- becomes ped-, as in pedon. Want to know more? Read our Words That Use article on ped-. Not every word that begins with the exact letters pedo-, such as pedograph or pedometer, is necessarily using the combining form pedo- to denote “child” or "soil.” In these cases, pedo- is used as a variant of pedi-, meaning "foot," in words from French. Learn more at our entries for the words pedograph and pedometer.

Etymology

Origin of pedo-¹

Variant spelling of paedo-, from Greek paido-, combining form of paid- (stem of paîs ) “child”

Origin of pedo-²

< Greek, combining form of pédon