Standard Lemma guide

tripod

noun · verb · 7 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈtɹaɪpɒd/
  • British, Southern, Standard: /ˈtɹɑjpɔd/
  • General-American: /ˈtɹaɪpɑd/
  • Australian: /ˈtɹɑepɔd/
  • Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • New-Zealand: /ˈtɹɑepɒd/
  • New-Zealand: [ˈtɹɑe̯pɔ̟d]
  • Scotland: /ˈtɾaɪpɔd/
  • Wales: /ˈtɾaɪpɒd/
  • rhymes with -aɪpɒd
  • CMU ARPABET: T R AY1 P AA2 D Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A three-legged stand or mount.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • Cameras often have tripod attachments, which help when taking steady photographs.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

An organism with three limbs.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: biology, natural-sciences, zoology

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

A fictional three-legged Martian war machine from H.G. Wells's novel The War of the Worlds (1897).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: literature, media, publishing, science-fiction

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: fighting-machine, Thing

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

Someone with a very large penis.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: humorous, slang

Topics: lifestyle, sex, sexuality

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

verb

Meaning 5

To enter the tripod position showing signs of exhaustion or distress.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: intransitive

Examples

  • I tripodded after my 6-mile run.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

verb

Meaning 6

Of a lizard, to raise its body upright bracing itself on hind legs and tail.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: intransitive

Topics: biology, herpetology, natural-sciences, zoology

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

7

noun

Meaning 7

a three-legged rack used for support

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: rack, stand

Narrower terms: camera tripod, easel

History

Etymology

PIE word *tréyes Borrowed from Latin tripod- (stem of tripūs, tripodis), from Ancient Greek τρίποδ- (trípod-, stem of τρίπους, τρίποδος (trípous, trípodos), literally “three-footed”); equivalent to tri- + -pod. Doublet of tripus, tripos, and teapoy.

Across languages

Translations

107 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: driepoot — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Afrikaans: statief — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Albanian: trekëmbësh — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Armenian: եռոտանի (eṙotani) — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Armenian: կասկարա (kaskara) — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Azerbaijani: üçayaq — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Belarusian: трыно́га (trynóha) — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Belarusian: трыно́жнік (trynóžnik) — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Belarusian: штаты́ў (štatýw) — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Bengali: টিপাই (ṭipai) — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Bulgarian: трино́жник (trinóžnik) — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Bulgarian: трино́га (trinóga) — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Bulgarian: стати́в (statív) — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Catalan: trípode — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Chinese Mandarin: 三腳架 /三脚架 (sānjiǎojià) — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Coptic: ⲧⲣⲓⲡⲟⲥ (tripos) — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Czech: stativ — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Czech: trojnožka — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Czech: třínožka — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Danish: stativ — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Dutch: statief — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Dutch: driepoot — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Esperanto: tripiedo — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Esperanto: stativo — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Estonian: statiiv — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Finnish: tripodi — a three-legged stand or mount
  • French: trépied — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Galician: trípode — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Galician: trepia — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Galician: trespés — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Galician: trébede — a three-legged stand or mount
  • German: Dreifuß — a three-legged stand or mount
  • German: Dreibeinstativ — a three-legged stand or mount
  • German: Dreibein — a three-legged stand or mount
  • German: Tripod — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Greek: πυροστιά (pyrostiá) — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Greek: τρίποδας (trípodas) — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Ancient Greek: τρίπους (trípous) — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Hebrew: חֲצוּבָה (khatsuvá) — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Hindi: तिपाई (tipāī) — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Hungarian: tripod — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Icelandic: þrífótur — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Ido: tripedo — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Ido: stativo — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Indonesian: kaki tiga — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Indonesian: tripod — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Irish: branra — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Italian: treppiedi — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Italian: cavalletto — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Italian: tripode — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Japanese: 三脚架 (sankyakuka) — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Japanese: トライポッド (toraipoddo) — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Korean: 아리쇠 (arisoe) — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Korean: 다리쇠 (darisoe) — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Korean: 삼발이 (sambari) — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Korean: 삼각대 (samgakdae) — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Korean: 트라이포드 (teuraipodeu) — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Latin: vāra — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Latvian: trijkājis — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Lithuanian: trikojis — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Macedonian: триножник (trinožnik) — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Macedonian: триногалка (trinogalka) — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Macedonian: стати́в (statív) — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Manx: treechoshagh — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Māori: waetoru — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Norwegian Bokmål: stativ — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: stativ — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Persian: سهپایه (se-pâye) — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Plautdietsch: Dreefoot — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Polish: statyw — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Polish: trójnóg — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Polish: tripod — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Portuguese: tripé — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Russian: трено́га (trenóga) — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Russian: трено́жник (trenóžnik) — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Russian: штати́в (štatív) — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Sanskrit: त्रिपाद (tripāda) — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Serbo-Croatian: тро̀ножац — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Serbo-Croatian: тро̀ног — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Serbo-Croatian: trònožac — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Serbo-Croatian: trònog — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Sicilian: trippedi — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Sicilian: cavaḍḍittu — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Slovak: statív — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Slovak: trojnožka — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Slovene: trinožnik — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Slovene: stativ — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Southern Altai: очок (očok) — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Southern Altai: ӱч бутту такта (üč buttu takta) — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Southern Altai: ӱч бутту стол (üč buttu stol) — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Southern Altai: кижен (kižen) — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Spanish: trípode — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Spanish: tripié — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Swedish: stativ — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Tagalog: tungko — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Tamil: முக்காலி (mukkāli) — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Thai: ขาตั้งกล้อง (kǎa-dtâng-glɔ̂ng) — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Turkish: tripod — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Turkish: sehpa — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Ottoman Turkish: سهپا (sehpa) — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Ukrainian: трині́жок (trynížok) — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Ukrainian: трині́жка (trynížka) — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Ukrainian: штати́в (štatýv) — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Urdu: تپائی (tipāī) — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Welsh: trybedd — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Yiddish: דרײַפֿוס (drayfus) — a three-legged stand or mount
  • Russian: приня́ть по́зу трено́жника (prinjátʹ pózu trenóžnika) — (intransitive) to enter the tripod position showing signs of exhaustion or distress
Real reading context

tripod in complete knowledge articles