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The combining form –podium is used like a suffix meaning “footlike part.” It is very occasionally used in scientific terms, especially in botany.

The form –podium comes from Greek ��ó�徱�Dz�, meaning “little foot.” The Latin cognate of ��ó�徱�Dz� is ��ŧ��, “foot,” and is the source of several combining forms related to the lower extremities, including –ped, –pede, and pedi–. Discover more at our 51�Թ�s That Use articles for each of these three forms.

What are variants of –podium?

The form -podium is a variant of –pode. It also shares an origin with the combining forms pod–, podo–, –pod, –poda, and –podous. Want to know more? Read our 51�Թ�s That Use articles for all these forms.

One example of a scientific term that features the form –pode is monopodium, a technical term for the single trunk or stem some plants, such as orchids, have.

Mono- may look familiar to you; it means “one, single,” from Greek ��ó�ԴDz�. The form –podium means “footlike part.” Monopodium literally translates to “(organism with) one footlike part.”

What are some words that use the combining form –podium?

• filopodium
• lycopodium (using the equivalent form of –podium in Latin)
• parapodium
• pseudopodium
• stylopodium (using the equivalent form of –podium in Latin)
• sympodium (using the equivalent form of –podium in Greek)

What are some other forms that –podium may be commonly confused with?

• -pedia
• -penia
• -ploid

The combining form pseudo– means “false” or “pretend.” With this in mind, what is the part of a cell that is known as the pseudopodium?