August 30, 2012 platypus (noun) \PLAT-ih-pus\ Hear it! What does
it mean? : a small water-dwelling egg-laying mammal of eastern
Australia and Tasmania with a fleshy bill resembling that of a
duck, webbed feet, and a broad flattened tail How do you use it?
The platypus and a related animal called the echidna are the
only mammals that lay eggs. Are you a word wiz?  "Platypus"
traces to the Greek word "pous." What do you think "pous" means?
You put the right foot forward if you picked B, "foot." Greek
speakers combined "pous" with their word "platys" meaning "flat"
to form "platypous" meaning "flat-footed." The Greek word passed
into Latin and from there entered English as "platypus," the
name of a very unusual animal. "Octopus" also stems from the
Greek root "pous," tracing to the Greek word "oktopous" meaning
"eight-footed." Some other words that stem from "pous" include
the letters "pod" in them. A few of these are "podiatry,"
(meaning "medical care and treatment of the human foot in health
and disease"), "t