a. and sb. [f. Gr. ἄπους, ἀποδ- footless, f. ἀ priv. + πούς foot; after mod.L. Apod-es, Apod-a, applied to groups in Zoology.]
A. adj. Footless; = APODAL 1, 2.
1816. Kirby & Spence, Entomol. (1828), I. iv. 139. An apode larva. Ibid. (1835), Hab. & Inst. Anim., II. xxii. 416. The Ophidians and Apod fishes evidently tend towards each other.
1874. Lubbock, Orig. & Met. Ins., i. 16. The larvæ … of the Weevils … are apod.
B. sb. (usually pl. = mod.L. Apodes, Apoda.) Term applied to certain birds, fish, and reptiles, in which feet or ventral fins are either wholly absent or merely rudimentary.
1601. Holland, Pliny (1634), II. 383. The greater kind of Swallows or Martins called Apodes.
1836. Blackw. Mag., XXXIX. 306/2. In birds, reptiles and insects, there are some which have been falsely called apteroids, or apods; for they possess in concealment the members which their name declares them to want.
