pod

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun the vessel that contains the seeds of a plant (not the seeds themselves)
  2. noun a several-seeded dehiscent fruit as e.g. of a leguminous plant
  3. noun a group of aquatic mammals

Etymology

Origin uncertain. Perhaps from Middle English *pod ("seed-pod, husk, shell, outer covering"; attested in pod-ware (“legume seed; seed grain”)), itself possibly from Old English pād (“an outer garment, covering, coat, cloak”), from Proto-West Germanic *paidu, from Proto-Germanic *paidō (“coat, smock, shirt”), from Proto-Indo-European *baiteh₂- (“woolen clothes”). If so, then cognate with Old Saxon pēda (“skirt”), German dialectal Pfeid, Pfeit (“shirt”), Gothic 𐍀𐌰𐌹𐌳𐌰 (paida, “mantle, skirt”), and perhaps Albanian petk (“gown, garment, dress, suit”) and Ancient Greek βαίτη (baítē, “goat-skin, fur-coat, tent”).

In classic literature

Synonyms

cod, seedcase

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