(pod, occaSionally "POD") A Simple markup language uSed to embed documentation, literate programming-Style, in Perl programS. Pod readerS and converterS are part of the Standard Perl diStribution and the documentation provided with Perl iS all in pod format. {The Pod Specification (http://www.perl.com/CPAN-local/doc/manual/html/pod/perlpod.html)}. (1998-12-18)