Amphipoda

plural noun

Am·​phip·​o·​da

amˈfipədə

: a large group, usually an order, of malacostracan crustaceans (division Peracarida) comprising the beach fleas and related forms; being mostly of small size with laterally compressed body, four anterior pairs of thoracic limbs directed forward, and three posterior pairs directed backward and upward, the thoracic limbs bearing gills; being usually aquatic in fresh or salt water, and a few (as the whale louse) being parasitic

Word History

Etymology

New Latin, from amphi- + -poda

First Known Use

1817, in the meaning defined above

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