arthropod

Etymology

It is formed from English arthro- + -pod, after New Latin Arthropoda, according to the OED, which compares German Arthropod, recorded in 1853 or earlier.^[2] Other dictionaries derive it directly from the scientific Latin name.^{[3][4][5][6][7]} That name, literally "those with jointed feet", was coined by the German zoologist Karl Theodor Ernst von Siebold,^[6][8] in 1845 according to Etymonline and Klein,^[6][8] while the OED cites his textbook with Stannius of 1846.^[2] It is formed from Ancient Greek ἄρθρον (árthron, “joint”) and πούς (poús, “foot”),^[7][9][6] the first from Proto-Indo-European *ar- (“to fit together”) and the second from *ped- (“foot”).^[6][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

An animal of the phylum Arthropoda, and as an adjective, belonging to that phylum: both in 1861, in the Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science and the Transactions of the Microscopical Society.^[2] Merriam-Webster has the noun already in 1857,^[4] and Etymonline dates it to 1862;^[6] Barnhart's 1877 and Dictionary.com's 1875–80 are later.^[7][11]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept its zoological meaning from the start, following the group name, which the OED first finds in English in 1854, in Burnett's translation of Siebold,^[2] Etymonline in 1849^[6] and Barnhart in 1870.^[7] Dictionaries define the group by its jointed limbs and segmented body, and Collins adds an outer skeleton of chitin,^[12][5] and the OED counts the extinct trilobites among its members beside insects, spiders and crustaceans.^[2]

Timeline

• 1854 – Arthropoda, the group name, in English.^[2] Etymonline dates it to 1849.^[6]
• 1861 – noun, an invertebrate of this group.^[2] Merriam-Webster dates it to 1857,^[4] Etymonline to 1862.^[6]
• 1861 – adjective, of the Arthropoda.^[2][4] Etymonline has it by 1865.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. An invertebrate animal of the phylum Arthropoda, with jointed limbs, a segmented body and an exoskeleton, such as an insect, spider or crustacean.^[12][2][5]

Adjective

1. Of or belonging to the Arthropoda.^[4][2]

Word family

• arthropodan

Related words

• arthritis
• tripod

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
4. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
8. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
9. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill
11. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
12. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins