antipodes

antipodes
\ \ [16] Greek antípodes meant literally ‘people who have their feet opposite’ – that is, people who live on the other side of the world, and therefore have the soles of their feet ‘facing’ those of people on this side of the world. It was formed from the prefix anti- ‘against, opposite’ and poúsfoot’ (related to English foot and pedal). English antipodes, borrowed via either French antipodes or late Latin antipodes, originally meant ‘people on the other side of the world’ too, but by the mid 16th century it had come to be used simply for the ‘opposite side of the globe’.
\ \ Cf.FOOT, PEDAL

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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  • Antipodes — • Speculations concerning the rotundity of the earth and the possible existence of human beings with their feet turned towards ours were of interest to the Fathers of the Early Church only in so far as they seemed to encroach upon the fundamental …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • antipodes — (n.) late 14c., persons who dwell on the opposite side of the globe; 1540s as place on the opposite side of the earth, from L. antipodes those who dwell on the opposite side of the earth, from Gk. antipodes, plural of antipous with feet opposite… …   Etymology dictionary

  • Antipodes — ► PLURAL NOUN 1) (the Antipodes) Australia and New Zealand (in relation to the northern hemisphere). 2) (antipodes or antipode) the direct opposite of something. DERIVATIVES antipodal adjective Antipodean adjective & noun …   English terms dictionary

  • Antipodes — An*tip o*des, n. [L. pl., fr. Gr. ? with the feet opposite, pl. ? ?; ? against + ?, ?, foot.] 1. Those who live on the side of the globe diametrically opposite. [1913 Webster] 2. The country of those who live on the opposite side of the globe.… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • ANTIPODES — Subtilis, et diversa apud veteres fuit inquisisitio; Sintne homines, qui sub terra, sua vestigia nostris opposita habeant, nec ne? Quod ita esse ratione satis evidenti Macrob. l. 2. de Somn. Scip. et Plin. l. 2. c. 65. ostendere conantur. De his… …   Hofmann J. Lexicon universale

  • antipodes — Antipodes, Antichthones, Antipodes …   Thresor de la langue françoyse

  • antipodes — index antipode Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • Antipodes — [an tip′ə dēz΄] [sometimes a ] Brit. New Zealand and Australia: with the …   English World dictionary

  • antipodes — [an tip′ə dēz΄] pl.n. [ML < L < Gr, pl. of antipous, with the feet opposite < anti , opposite + pous, FOOT] 1. any two places directly opposite each other on the earth 2. [with pl. or sing. v.] a place on the opposite side of the earth 3 …   English World dictionary

  • Antipodes — For other uses, see Antipode (disambiguation). This map shows the antipodes of each point on the Earth s surface – the points where the blue and yellow overlap are land antipodes most land has its antipodes in the ocean. This map uses the Lambert …   Wikipedia

  • Antipodes — Point antipodal Sur la surface d une sphère, deux points antipodaux sont deux points diamétralement opposés. Un point antipodal est souvent appelé un antipode. Sommaire 1 Étymologie 2 Sur la Terre 3 En mathématiques …   Wikipédia en Français

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