Meanings
plural megapodes
- Any of several chicken- or turkey-like birds in the family Megapodiidae, which incubate their eggs by burying them where they receive warmth from decaying vegetation, solar radiation or geothermal heat.First known use 19th c.
In precocial species, such as megapodes, the young hatch with their eyes open and are ready to leave the nest within a short period of time.
2017 June 28, Hanneke Meijer, The GuardianSynonyms: brush-turkey, incubator bird, moundbird, mound-builder, scrubfowl
comparative more megapode · superlative most megapode
- Characteristic of the Megapodiidae.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounAny of several chicken- or turkey-like birds in the family Megapodiidae, which incubate their eggs by burying them where they receive warmth from decaying vegetation, solar radiation or geothermal heat.
More synonyms by meaning
nounlarge-footed short-winged birds of Australasia; build mounds of decaying vegetation to incubate eggs
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
From mega- + -pode, after scientific Latin Megapodius (genus name).
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Chinese Mandarin 塚雉 /冢雉
- 塚雉 /冢雉 (zhǒngzhì)bird
Finnish isojalkakana
- isojalkakanabird
French mégapode
- mégapodebird
Indonesian gosong
- gosongbird
Italian megapodio
- megapodiobird
Japanese ツカツクリ, 塚作り
- ツカツクリ (tsuka-tsukuri)bird
- 塚作り (tsuka-tsukuri)bird
Spanish megápodo
- megápodobird
Tagalog tabon
- tabonbird
Cite this entry
megapode. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/megapode
“megapode.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/megapode. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “megapode,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/megapode.
Source: megapode on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.