millipede

From Latin millipeda (“wood louse”), from mille (“thousand”) + pedis (“foot”), equivalent to milli- + -pede.

With one or two exceptions, male millipedes make direct contact with the female and transfer sperm via a pair of modified front legs (gonopods) which have been charged with semen from the genitalia situated towards the rear of the body.

1993, Rod Preston-Mafham, The Encyclopedia of Land Invertebrate Behaviour, page 14:

When alive, millipedes maintain tension in these^([intersegmental]) muscles and are therefore difficult to straighten out when coiled.

2005, Thomas Eisner, For Love of Insects, page 276:

Soil millipedes (Diplopoda) possess a specific gut microbiota that differs from microbial communities in soil and leaf litter.

2006, Boris A. Byzov, “4: Intestinal Microbiota of Millipedes”, in Helmut König, Ajit Varma, editors, Intestinal Microorganisms of Termites and Other Invertebrates, page 89:

Any of many elongated arthropods, of the class Diplopoda, with cylindrical bodies that have two pairs of legs for each one of their 20 to 100 or more body segments.


centipede

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

Centipedes differ from millipedes by having a single pair of legs on each body segment.

1993, Gordon M. Nishida, JoAnn M. Tenorio, What Bit Me?: Identifying Hawai'i's Stinging and Biting Insects and Their Kin, page 29:

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.

2008, Thom Holmes, March Onto Land: The Silurian Period to the Middle Triassic Epoch, page 58:

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.

2011, Alan Gunn, Essential Forensic Biology, 2nd edition, unnumbered page:

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.

limpeuën

a segmented arthropod of class Chilopoda

རྐང་བརྒྱ (rkang brgya, literally “hundred-feet”)


redhead

I like redheads. Their mouths are like a drop of strawberry jam in a glass of milk.

2007, Matthew Weiner, “Red in the Face”, in Mad Men, season 1, episode 7, spoken by Roger Sterling:


roly-poly

en-noun

roly-poly (countable and uncountable, plural roly-polys or roly-polies)

roly-polys (plural)
roly-polies (plural)

/ˌɹəʊlɪˈpəʊli/

The noun is apparently derived from roll (“to turn over and over”) + -y (suffix forming adjectives with the sense ‘having the quality of’), reduplicated with a change of the initial consonant. Compare rolly (“having the ability to roll, rolling”, adjective), which is attested since the 19th century.
Sense 1.7 (“mischievous or worthless person”) is possibly influenced by poll (“head; (archaic) scalp; (by extension) person”).
The adjective and adverb are attested later than the noun, and so are probably derived from it.

rolly-pooly

game in which balls are rolled or bowled into holes

BOBO The Roly Poly Clown / Punch him—beat him—tackle him—Bobo will bounce right back with a smile!

1950 November 27, “American-made Toys … for American Girls and Boys [advertisement]”, in Henry R[obinson] Luce, editor, Life, Chicago, Ill., New York, N.Y.: Time Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 79:

Among the many adaptations of the Japanese tumbler toy are those known to American children as a roly-poly and a Kelly.

1972, Arden J. Newsome, “Japanese”, in Crafts and Toys from around the World, New York, N.Y.: Julian Messner, →ISBN, page 67:

Though most often made of plastic, roly-poly tumble toys were commonly found in mid-century toy boxes.

2012, Jill Hamor, “Toys [Roly-poly Duck]”, in Lynn Koolish, editor, Storybook Toys: Sew 16 Projects from Once upon a Time, Lafayette, Calif.: Stash Books, C&T Publishing, →ISBN, page 108:

A toy that rights itself when pushed over.

起き上がり小法師

おきあがりこぼし, okiagari-koboshi; おきあがりこぼうし, okiagari-kobōshi

When you are finished with circle time, dismiss your children by helping each one do a roly-poly roll (a somersault) and roll away to their next activity.

1994, Patty Claycomb, “Roly-poly”, in Gayle Bittinger, editor, Bear Hugs for Circle Time: Positive Activities that Encourage Children to Pay Attention, Everett, Wash.: Warren Publishing House, →ISBN, page 14:

Children of this age can rarely complete a forward roll or somersault properly. […] A ‘roly poly’ roll or a tucked sideways roll will give the children just as much pleasure and also enough exercise and knowlege of turning and rolling at this stage of their development.

1997, Pauline Wetton, “Nursery Class Activities for the Primary School Hall”, in Physical Education in the Early Years (Teaching and Learning in the First Three Years at School), London, New York, N.Y.: Routledge, →ISBN, page 57:

(gymnastics) A forward roll or sideways roll.

A roly-poly had found his way inside the house; I reasoned that the tiny varmint had crawled up the steps. […] The creatures are no more than an inch long, and when you touch them they roll themselves into a tight gray ball.

1960 July 11, Harper Lee, chapter 25, in To Kill a Mockingbird, Philadelphia, Pa., New York, N.Y.: J[oshua] B[allinger] Lippincott Company, →OCLC, part 2, page 251:

Terrestrial isopods, commonly known as pill bugs, sow bugs, or roly-polys, are generally familiar to most of us.

1995, Henry W. Robison, Robert T. Allen, “Subphylum Crustacea: Crustaceans”, in Only in Arkansas: A Study of the Endemic Plants and Animals of the State, Fayetteville, Ark.: University of Arkansas Press, →ISBN, page 45:

From the window, she sees them discover a colony of roly-polies (tiny gray bugs that roll into miniature balls in the presence of danger). She delights in the wonder and fun of the children as they play gently with the tiny bugs.

1997, Clark M. Williamson, Ronald J[ames] Allen, “Worship as the Power of God”, in Adventures of the Spirit: A Guide to Worship from the Perspective of Process Theology, Lanham, Md., Oxford, Oxfordshire: University Press of America, →ISBN, page 76:

[Romy Tinkle] What is that thing, Quincy?! / [Quincy Tinkle] Um … It's a giant Rolly Polly (Pill Bug). It's been living entirely on my body-building protein powder, apparently!!

2002 May 26, J[effrey] J. Rowland, Wigu Adventures (webcomic), archived from the original on 2009-12-13:

(Canada, US) In full roly-poly bug: a small terrestrial invertebrate which tends to roll into a ball when disturbed, such as a woodlouse (suborder Oniscidea, especially a pill bug (family Armadillidiidae) or a sowbug (family Porcellionidae)) or a pill millipede (superorder Oniscomorpha).

pallosiira

Often I did view the shade / Where once a nest my eyes did fill, / And often mark'd the place I play'd / At "roly poly" down the hill.

1821, John Clare, “[Poems.] Recollections after a Ramble.”, in The Village Minstrel, and Other Poems, volume I, London: […] [T. Miller] for Taylor and Hessey, […]; and E[dward] Drury, […], →OCLC, stanza 8, page 128:

(uncountable, historical) An activity or game involving rolling.

(games) A game involving people (usually children) rolling down a slope.


roly-poly

en-adj

roly-poly (comparative more roly-poly, superlative most roly-poly)

more roly-poly (comparative)
most roly-poly (superlative)

/ˌɹəʊlɪˈpəʊli/

She had been waiting for the little roly-poly man to tumble and roll along the deck, and had been mentally indulging her sense of humour on the scene.

1867, Grace Ramsay [pseudonym; Kathleen O’Meara], chapter IX, in A Woman’s Trials. […], volume II, London: Hurst and Blackett, […], →OCLC, page 157:

He ducked back down the alley / With some roly-poly little bat-faced girl

1986 August, Paul Simon (lyrics and music), “You Can Call Me Al”, in Graceland, performed by Paul Simon:

(often childish or humorous, informal) Short and plump; squat.


diplopod

Any animal of the class Diplopoda: a millipede.


chilopod

From Ancient Greek χεῖλος (kheîlos, “lip”) + ποδός (podós) (genitive singular of πούς (poús, “foot, leg”)).

Consequently most chilopods are carnivorous, searching for earthworms, enchytraeids, and insects.

2006, G. Eisenbis, “1: Biology of Soil Invertebrates”, in Helmut König, Ajit Varma, editors, Intestinal Microorganisms of Termites and Other Invertebrates, page 34:

Important predatory groups in the beech forest at Göttinger Wald are chilopods, spiders, carabid and staphylinid beetles and gamasid mites. Chilopods consume a high proportion of collembolan populations and of other saprophagous groups (Poser, 1988, 1991).

2009, M. Schaefer, S. Migge-Kleian, S. Scheu, “Chapter 12: The Role of Soil Fauna for Decomposition of Plant Residues”, in Rainer Brumme, Partap K. Khanna, editors, Functioning and Management of European Beech Ecosystems, page 223:

However, the authors point out that the motoneurons' morphologies are dissimilar in hexapods and chilopods, a fact that argues against a homology of hexapodan and chilopodan longitudinal muscle motoneurons.

2013, Rudolf Loesel, Harald Wolf, Matthes Kenning, Steffen Harzsch, Andy Sombke, “13: Architectural Principles and Evolution of the Arthropod Central Nervous System”, in Alessandro Minelli, Geoffrey Boxshall, Giuseppe Fusco, editors, Arthropod Biology and Evolution: Molecules, Development, Morphology, page 308:

Any myriapod of the class Chilopoda, a centipede.


myriapod

(zoology) Any arthropod (such as centipedes and millipedes) of the subphylum Myriapoda.


scolopendra

From Latin scolopendra, from Ancient Greek σκολόπενδρα (skolópendra).

This led the conversation to the insects of the Crimea and Ukraine, of which I had made a considerable collection, and the Emperor inquired of me if there were scorpions, scolopendras and tarantulas in the Crimea.

1845 November 27, The Eclectic Magazine, volume 6, page 352:


chilognath

(zoology) Any of the subclass Chilognatha of the millipedes.


multipede

From Latin multipeda, multipēs; equivalent to multi- + -pede.

The stability of the mesophases for the polypedes and multipedes is reported in Table 17.

2006, Bertrand Donnio, Akira Harada, Akihito Hashidzume, editors, Supramolecular polymers, polymeric betains, oligomers:

As noted in Section 15.1, the design of multipedes allows the incorporation of functional moieties into self-assembling and/or self-organizing states of matter.

2011, Takashi Nakanishi, Supramolecular Soft Matter: Applications in Materials and Organic Electronics, page 314:

A branching structure with many separate termini.


pillworm

(rare) Any myriapod of the genus Iulus and allied genera which rolls up spirally; a galleyworm.


xystodesmid

(zoology) Any millipede in the family Xystodesmidae.


arthropleurid

(zoology) Any of the extinct myriapods in the family Arthropleuridae


glomerid

(zoology) Any millipede in the family Glomeridae.


julid

(zoology) Any millipede in the order Julida.

(zoology) Any millipede in the family Julidae.


paradoxosomatid

(zoology) Any millipede in the family Paradoxosomatidae.


pauropodid

(zoology) Any pauropod in the family Pauropodidae.


scolopendrid

(zoology) Any of the family Scolopendridae of centipedes.


scutigerid

(zoology) Any centipede in the family Scutigeridae.


sphaerotheriid

(zoology) Any millipede in the family Sphaerotheriidae.


spirobolid

(zoology) Any millipede in the order Spirobolida.

(zoology) Any millipede in the family Spirobolidae.


spirostreptid

(zoology) Any millipede in the order Spirostreptida.

(zoology) Any millipede in the family Spirostreptidae.


lithobiomorph

Any centipede of the order Lithobiomorpha.


scutigeromorph

Any centipede of the order Scutigeromorpha.


pauropod

(zoology) Any myriapod in the class Pauropoda.


galley-worm

Probably so called because the numerous legs along the sides move rhythmically like the oars of a galley.

(dated) A chilognath myriapod of the genus Julus and allied genera, having numerous short legs along the sides; a kind of millipede.


symphylan

Any of many arthropods of the class Symphyla.


pseudocentipede

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-pseudocentipede.wav


polydesmid

(zoology) An millipede in order Polydesmida (flatbacked millipedes.


house centipede

en-noun

house centipede (plural house centipedes)

Scutigera coleoptrata
Scutigera coleoptrata#Translingual

A centipede, Scutigera coleoptrata, native to the Mediterranean region but common in houses worldwide.


archipolypodan

Any extinct millipede of the superorder Archipolypoda


euphoberiid

Any archipolypodan millipede of the order Euphoberiida


platyrhacidan

Any millipede of the family Platyrhacidae


garden centipede

garden centipede (plural garden centipedes)


chordeumatidan

Any millipede of the order Chordeumatida


chilognathan

Any millipede of the subclass Chilognatha


geophilid

Any member of the Geophilidae family of centipedes.


symphylid

[…] differences in the number of symphylids in the surface layers of soil […]

2012, M. Gratwick, Crop Pests in the UK: Collected edition of MAFF leaflets, page 382:

The symphylids are related to the millepedes ^([sic]) and centipedes and the only pest of any importance is the glasshouse symphylid, white insect or glasshouse centipede (Scutigerella immaculata).

2015, Roland Fox, The Gardener's Book of Pests and Diseases:

(zoology) A group of arthropods with 12 pairs of legs that live in the deeper soil layers and feed primarily on dead plant matter, although some species also eat young roots and the root hairs of living plants.