Meanings
nountadpole (plural tadpoles)
plural tadpoles
- A type of cargo bike that has two wheels in front and one in back.
- human sciencesA child's basic drawing of a human being, having a detailed head but only sticks for the body and limbs.
- informalA small child.
Shouldn't you tadpoles be in bed?
1970, Dorothy Clarke Wilson, Lone Woman, page 174 - derogatoryinformalAn insignificant person.
Woman's voice: You impudent imp! You tadpole! You shrimp!
1900 August 4, The Geelong Advertiser, Victoria, page 6, column 71 more example
“[H]ere's this Tooralooral tadpole of a Mayor shovin' his nose into the business and arrestin' our Puddin' without rhyme or reason.”
1918, Norman Lindsay, The Magic Pudding, page 142
Synonyms & antonyms
toad or frog larva
Similar
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Middle Englishtadpolle
- Englishtadpole
From Middle English tadpolle, taddepol, equivalent to toad + poll (“head”).
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans paddavis, paddavissie
- paddavistoad or frog larva
- paddavissietoad or frog larva
- kikvorstoad or frog larva
Ancient Greek γυρῖνος
- γυρῖνος (gurînos)toad or frog larva
Arabic شُرْغُوف
- شُرْغُوف (šurḡūf)toad or frog larva
Basque zapaburu
- zapaburutoad or frog larva
Bengali বেঙাচি
- বেঙাচি (beṅaci)toad or frog larva
Bulgarian попова лъжичка
- попова лъжичка (popova lăžička)toad or frog larva
Catalan capgròs, cullerot
- capgròstoad or frog larva
- cullerottoad or frog larva
Chinese Mandarin 蝌蚪
- 蝌蚪 (kēdǒu)toad or frog larva
Czech pulec
- pulectoad or frog larva
Danish haletudse
- haletudsetoad or frog larva
Dutch dikkopje, dikkop
- dikkopjetoad or frog larva
- dikkoptoad or frog larva
- kikkervisjetoad or frog larva
Esperanto ranido, bufido
- ranidotoad or frog larva
- bufidotoad or frog larva
Estonian kulles
- kullestoad or frog larva
Finnish nuijapää
- nuijapäätoad or frog larva
French têtard
- têtardtoad or frog larva
German Kaulquappe
- Kaulquappetoad or frog larva
Greek γυρίνος
- γυρίνος (gyrínos)toad or frog larva
Hebrew רֹאשָׁן
- רֹאשָׁן (rošan)toad or frog larva
Hindi बेंगची, मेंढक का बच्चा
- बेंगची (beṅgcī)toad or frog larva
- मेंढक का बच्चा (meṇḍhak kā baccā)toad or frog larva
- टैडपोल (ṭaiḍpol)toad or frog larva
Hungarian ebihal
- ebihaltoad or frog larva
Icelandic halakarta, froskungi
- halakartatoad or frog larva
- froskungitoad or frog larva
Indonesian berudu
- berudutoad or frog larva
Irish torbán
- torbántoad or frog larva
Italian girino
- girinotoad or frog larva
Japanese おたまじゃくし, オタマジャクシ
- おたまじゃくし (otamajakushi)toad or frog larva
- オタマジャクシ (otamajakushi)toad or frog larva
- お玉杓子 (otamajakushi)toad or frog larva
- 蝌蚪 (kato)toad or frog larva
Korean 올챙이
- 올챙이 (olchaeng'i)toad or frog larva
Latin ranunculus, ranula
- ranunculustoad or frog larva
- ranulatoad or frog larva
Latvian kurkulis
- kurkulistoad or frog larva
Lithuanian buožgalvis
- buožgalvistoad or frog larva
Malay berudu, cebong
- berudutoad or frog larva
- cebongtoad or frog larva
Māori hua poraka, punua poraka
- hua porakatoad or frog larva
- punua porakatoad or frog larva
Norwegian Bokmål rumpetroll
- rumpetrolltoad or frog larva
Persian بچه قورباغه, کفچلیز
- بچه قورباغه (bačče-ye qurbâġe)toad or frog larva
- کفچلیز (kafčaliz)toad or frog larva
- کفلیسک (kaflisak)toad or frog larva
Polish kijanka
- kijankatoad or frog larva
Portuguese girino
- girinotoad or frog larva
Romanian mormoloc
- mormoloctoad or frog larva
Russian голова́стик
- голова́стик (golovástik)toad or frog larva
Scottish Gaelic ceann-phollan
- ceann-phollantoad or frog larva
Slovak žubrienka
- žubrienkatoad or frog larva
Spanish renacuajo, ranacuajo
- renacuajotoad or frog larva
- ranacuajotoad or frog larva
- ajolotetoad or frog larva
- atepocatetoad or frog larva
Swahili kiluwiluwi
- kiluwiluwitoad or frog larva
Swedish grodyngel, yngel
- grodyngeltoad or frog larva
- yngeltoad or frog larva
Tagalog uluulo, butete
- uluulotoad or frog larva
- butetetoad or frog larva
- kitikititoad or frog larva
Tamil தவளைக்குஞ்சு, தலைப்பிரட்டை
- தவளைக்குஞ்சு (tavaḷaikkuñcu)toad or frog larva
- தலைப்பிரட்டை (talaippiraṭṭai)toad or frog larva
- தவளைக்குட்டி (tavaḷaikkuṭṭi)toad or frog larva
Thai ลูกอ๊อด
- ลูกอ๊อด (lûuk-ɔ́ɔt)toad or frog larva
Turkish iribaş
- iribaştoad or frog larva
Ukrainian пу́головок
- пу́головок (púholovok)toad or frog larva
Vietnamese nòng nọc, nọc nọc
- nòng nọctoad or frog larva
- nọc nọctoad or frog larva
- óc nóctoad or frog larva
Welsh grifft, penbwl
- griffttoad or frog larva
- penbwltoad or frog larva
Yiddish קאָפּעקל
- קאָפּעקל (kopekl)toad or frog larva
Cite this entry
APA
tadpole. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tadpole
MLA
“tadpole.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tadpole. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “tadpole,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tadpole.
Source: tadpole on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.