Antipodes from Greek ἀντίποδες = anti- (opposite) + pous (foot) — 'those with feet opposite.' PIE *h₂enti + *ped-. Ancient Greeks imagined people standing upside-down on a spherical earth's far side. Medieval theologians denied this was possible. European navigators proved it, and Australia became 'the Antipodes.'
The diametrically opposite point on the earth's surface; (capitalized) Australia and New Zealand. Figuratively, any direct opposite.
From Greek 'antipodes' (ἀντίποδες, those with feet opposite), plural of 'antipous' (ἀντίπους), composed of 'anti-' (ἀντί, opposite, against) + 'poús' (πούς, foot, genitive 'podós'), from PIE *h₂enti (against, facing) + *ped- (foot). The word was coined by Greek philosophers reasoning about a spherical earth: if the world is a globe, there must be people standing on the opposite side with their feet pointing toward ours. Plato alludes to the concept, and Aristotle and Eratosthenes developed it further. The PIE
St. Augustine argued in City of God (426 CE) that antipodeans could not exist — all humans descend from Adam, and no one could have crossed the impassable ocean. When Europeans reached Australia, they called it 'the Antipodes' — vindicating the Greek geometers and refuting the theologians in a single voyage.