Pteropoda
/təˈrɒpədə/Zoology. Now historical
noun
A former class or order of pelagic opisthobranch molluscs comprising the pteropods (sea butterflies). Treated as plural (also pteropoda): the members of this class collectively.
- The pteropoda are now divided among the orders Thecosomata and Gymnosomata..
Origin
Early 19th century; earliest use found in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. From scientific Latin Pteropoda, plural noun from French ptéropodes, plural noun, plural of ptéropode (in the same source) from ptéro- + -pode, perhaps after Hellenistic Greek πτερόπους wing-footed.