We borrowed the word antipode over 600 years ago. It first appeared in a translation of a Latin text as a word designating "men that have their feet against our feet," that is, inhabitants of the opposite side of the globe. The word, which originated in Greek, combines anti-, meaning "opposite," with the root pod-, meaning "foot." "Antipode" is no longer used in English as a designation for people, but the notion of the other side of the globe lives on in its current geographical sense. We have come to use the plural term "antipodes" (pronounced \an-TIH-puh-deez) to refer to Australia and New Zealand because they are on the other side of the earth from Britain.
our little pug is an antipode to our other dog, a mastiff
Recent Examples on the WebThe research makes a strong case that this approach is more effective than its antipode: being unnecessarily hard on yourself. Mark Travers, Forbes, 10 Aug. 2022 In scattering amplitudes, the antipode map that Dixon found is a bit more abstract. Katie Mccormick, Quanta Magazine, 1 Aug. 2022 President Joe Biden could be the antipode to the Trump/Greene type of outrage politics. Zachary B. Wolf, CNN, 12 Apr. 2021 But that's usually antipode to how a business—which is how Congress characterizes the USPS—is run. Jonathan Vanian, Fortune, 15 Aug. 2020 Jonathan’s message was clear: When the going gets tough, the tough go to the antipodes.The New Yorker, 6 Apr. 2020 After Leonard Bernstein left the job in 1969, the orchestra chose as his successor an antipode, the cerebral Pierre Boulez. David Mermelstein, WSJ, 1 Oct. 2018 But the antipode of the hospital where I was born, in central China, is a place in northern Argentina. Angela Chen, The Verge, 17 June 2018 Especially when your predecessor is in so many respects your antipode. Mike Sielski, Philly.com, 31 May 2018 See More
Word History
Etymology
Middle English antipodes, plural, persons dwelling at opposite points on the globe, from Latin, from Greek, from plural of antipod-, antipous with feet opposite, from anti- + pod-, pous foot — more at foot