quadruped

Borrowed from French quadrupède, from Middle French, from Latin stem of quadrupēs (“four-footed, a four-footed animal”), from quadri- (“four-”) + stem of pes (“foot”). Alternatively analyzable as quadru- +‎ -ped.

• IPA^(key): /ˈkwɒdɹəpɛd/

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quadruped (plural quadrupeds)

1. A four-footed or four-legged animal.
   • 2023 February 22, Stephen Roberts, “Reading... between the lines... to Wales”, in RAIL, number 977, page 56:

     Bradshaw knew nothing of the 'wind of change' that was coming in a century's time, so he contented himself with an exposition on the Vale of the White Horse, "deriving its singular denomination from the gigantic carving of that useful quadruped, on a high chalky hill beyond".

2. A mammal ambulating on all fours.

• tetrapod

• biped
• Tetrapoda