parapodium

American  

[par-uh-poh-dee-uhm] / ˌpær əˈpoʊ di əm /

noun

Zoology.

plural

parapodia

1. one of the unjointed rudimentary limbs or processes of locomotion of many worms, as annelids.

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parapodium British  

/ ˌpærəˈpəʊdɪəm /

noun

1. any of the paired unjointed lateral appendages of polychaete worms, used in locomotion, respiration, etc

2. any of various similar appendages of other invertebrates, esp certain molluscs

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Other Word Forms

• parapodial adjective

Etymology

Origin of parapodium

First recorded in 1875–80; para- ¹ + -podium

Example Sentences

The notopodium may be rudimentary or absent and the entire parapodium reduced to the merest ridge or even completely unrepresented.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 7 "Cerargyrite" to "Charing Cross" by Various

The reduction of the outgrowth-bearing “corm” of the parapodium of either a Chaetopod or an Arthropod to a simple cylindrical stump, devoid of outgrowths, is brought about when mechanical conditions favour such a shape.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 2, Slice 6 "Armour Plates" to "Arundel, Earls of" by Various

The ancestral stock was pantognathobasic—i.e. had a gnathobase or jaw process on every parapodium.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 2, Slice 6 "Armour Plates" to "Arundel, Earls of" by Various

The dorsal surface of the kidney extends to the left beyond the shell-chamber beneath the skin in the space between the shell-chamber and the left parapodium.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 5 "Gassendi, Pierre" to "Geocentric" by Various

Notopodium, nō-tō-pō′di-um, n. the dorsal or upper part of the parapodium of an annelid, a dorsal oar.—adj.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 3 of 4: N-R) by Various