From Greek 'antipódes' (those with feet opposite), combining 'antí' (against) and 'poús' (foot) — originally describing people imagined to live on the opposite side of the Earth.
The direct opposite; a point on the Earth's surface diametrically opposite to another point
From Latin 'antipodes,' borrowed from Greek 'antipódes' (ἀντίποδες), the plural of 'antipous,' meaning 'with feet opposite.' The word combines 'antí' (against, opposite) and 'poús' (foot, genitive 'podós'). The Greeks used the term to describe hypothetical people living on the opposite side of the Earth, whose feet would be
In 1291, the Catholic bishop Petrus de Abano was nearly tried for heresy after claiming the antipodes were inhabited. St. Augustine had argued in the 5th century that antipodeans could not exist because all humans descended from Adam, and there was no way to cross the impassable ocean between the hemispheres. Columbus's voyage eventually settled the theological question