Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

centipede

/ˈsɛn.tɪ.pid/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.79 in modern English

Syllables: cen-tipede
IPA: /ˈsɛn.tɪ.pid/

14

Scrabble Score

9

Letters

3

Syllables

7

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

Any arthropod of class Chilopoda, which have a segmented body with one pair of legs per segment and from about 20 to 300 legs in total.

noun

A many-oared Chinese smuggling boat.

Obsolete

Example Sentences

"Centipedes differ from millipedes by having a single pair of legs on each body segment."
"The existence of millipedes, centipedes, insects, and spiders along-side the first tetrapods sustained a robust ecosystem in which most animals were predators or scavengers."
"All centipedes (Chilopoda) and spiders (Aranea) are predatory and although they are often found on corpses their impact on the other fauna is not known."

Etymology

From French centipède, from Latin centipeda, centipēs, from centi- (“hundred”) + pēs (“foot”); equivalent to centi- + -pede.

Origin

Source language: Latin

Word Breakdown

Prefix: centi
Root: *ped-, centipeda
Suffix: pede

Regional Pronunciation

British English: /ˈsɛn.tɪ.pid/

Usage

Obsolete

Inflected Forms

centipedes (plural) centiped (alternative, archaic)

Derived Forms

centipedal centipedelike pseudocentipede

Phrases

Amazonian giant centipede centipede-eater centipede game centipede grass garden centipede house centipede Peruvian giant yellow-leg centipede sea centipede

Frequently Paired Words

millipede myriapod

Synonyms

chilopod forty legs hundred-legs fast crab scrambling dragon

Questions

How do you pronounce centipede?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈsɛn.tɪ.pid/.
What does centipede mean?: Any arthropod of class Chilopoda, which have a segmented body with one pair of legs per segment and from about 20 to 300 legs in total.
Where does centipede come from?: It is traced to Latin.

How to pronounce centipede

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “centipede”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈsɛn.tɪ.pid/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
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