quadruped

[kwod-roo-ped]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR quadruped ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

four-footed.

noun

an animal, especially a mammal, having four feet.

Origin of quadruped

1640–50; < Latin quadruped- (stem of quadrupēs), equivalent to quadru- quadru- + -ped- -ped

Related formsquad·ru·pe·dal

[kwo-droo-pi-dl, kwod-roo-ped-l] /kwɒˈdru pɪ dl, ˌkwɒd rʊˈpɛd l/, adjectivequad·ru·ped·ism, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for quadruped

Buffon himself could not tell whether the animal was a quadruped, or of the order, serpens!
The Prairie|J. Fenimore Cooper
The reference is to a quadruped who looks down to the earth; see note to 13.
Chaucer's Works, Volume 6 (of 7) -- Introduction, Glossary, and Indexes|Geoffrey Chaucer
She had latterly been thinking of Alvan's rejection of the part of centaur; and his phrase, the quadruped man, breathed meaning.
The Tragic Comedians, Complete|George Meredith
It is a quadruped of the feline race; its total length is about nine feet, and its height about twenty-seven inches.
Stronghand|Gustave Aimard

Like them, it had no tendency to revert to the quadruped habit.
Man And His Ancestor|Charles Morris

British Dictionary definitions for quadruped

quadruped

noun

an animal, esp a mammal, that has all four limbs specialized for walking

adjective

having four feet

Derived Formsquadrupedal (kwɒˈdruːpɪdəl, ˌkwɒdrʊˈpɛdəl), adjective

Word Origin for quadruped

C17: from Latin quadrupēs, from quadru- (see quadri-) + pēs foot

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for quadruped

1640s, from French quadrupède (16c.), from Latin quadrupes (genitive quadrupedis) "four-footed, on all fours," also, as a noun, "a four-footed animal," from quadri- "four" (see quadri-) + pes "foot" (see foot (n.)). The adjective is attested from 1741. Related: Quadrupedal (1610s).

Science definitions for quadruped