arthropod

noun

ar·​thro·​pod ˈär-thrə-ˌpäd 

: any of a phylum (Arthropoda) of invertebrate animals (such as insects, arachnids, and crustaceans) that have a segmented body and jointed appendages, a usually chitinous exoskeleton molted at intervals, and a dorsal anterior brain connected to a ventral chain of ganglia

arthropod adjective

arthropodan

är-ˈthrä-pə-dən 

adjective

Examples of arthropod in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The lizards primarily live off insects and arthropods, but their proximity to humans has led to some developing a more omnivorous approach to their foraging. —ArsTechnica, 18 Sep. 2025

To learn more about what the matador bugs are doing, a team from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) exposed the bugs to two different types of arthropods–praying mantids and katydids. —Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 11 Sep. 2025

The current biodiversity crisis and a sixth mass extinction are separate concepts that should be disconnected, according to Conrad Labandeira, a senior scientist and curator of fossil arthropods at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC. —Katie Hunt, CNN Money, 9 Sep. 2025

And finally, there were arthropods, insects, and crustaceans, and so on. —Jonny Thomson, Big Think, 20 Aug. 2025

Word History

Etymology

from base of New Latin Arthropoda, group name, from arthro- arthro- + -poda, neuter plural of Greek -podos -pod

Note: The taxon Arthropoda, "those with jointed limbs," was introduced by the German zoologist Karl Theodor Ernst von Siebold (1804-85) in Lehrbuch der vergleichenden Anatomie, von v. Siebold und Stannius [Hermann Friedrich Stannius], Erster Teil, Wirbellose Thiere, von C. Th. v. Siebold (Berlin, 1848), p. 4. Note that the first part of the Lehrbuch was published after the second part, released in 1846, an irregularity that has resulted in Arthropoda being incorrectly dated to that year, and credited to both Stannius and von Siebold. See the discussion in Thomas A. Hegna, et al., "The correct authorship of the taxon name 'Arthropoda'," Arthropod Systematics and Phylogeny, vol. 71, no. 2 (November 19, 2013), pp. 71-74.

First Known Use

1857, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for arthropod

• amphipod
• copepod
• decapod
• endopod
• escalade
• esplanade
• exopod
• gastropod
• goldenrod
• isopod
• overawed
• overbroad

Kids Definition

arthropod

noun

ar·​thro·​pod ˈär-thrə-ˌpäd 

: any of a phylum of invertebrate animals (as insects, arachnids, and crustaceans) having a segmented body, jointed limbs, and a shell of chitin that is shed periodically

arthropod adjective