Millipede
/ˈmɪl.ɪ.piːd/noun
A many-legged arthropod of the class Diplopoda.
Did you know?The name was coined in New Latin from Latin mille (“thousand”) + pedes (“feet”), and it spread through scientific naming even though real millipedes don’t actually have a thousand legs.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*mes-
“to measure”
Latin
Latin
mille
“thousand”
Latin
Latin
pes, pedis
“foot”
17th Century
New Latin
millipeda
“thousand-footed creature”
18th–19th Century
English
millipede
“a many-legged arthropod”
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