noun
- millipede.
noun
- any terrestrial arthropod of the class Diplopoda, having a cylindrical body composed of 20 to more than 100 segments, each with two pairs of legs.
noun
- variants of millipede
noun
- any terrestrial herbivorous arthropod of the class Diplopoda, having a cylindrical body made up of many segments, each of which bears two pairs of walking legsSee also myriapod
n.also millepede, c.1600, from Latin millepeda “wood louse,” a type of crawling insect, from mille “thousand” (see million) + pes (genitive pedis) “foot” (see foot (n.)). Probably a loan-translation of Greek chiliopous.
- Any of various wormlike arthropods of the class Diplopoda, having a long body composed of many narrow segments, most of which have two pairs of legs. Millipedes feed on plants and, unlike centipedes, do not have venomous pincers. Compare centipede.