tarantula

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun large southern European spider once thought to be the cause of tarantism (uncontrollable bodily movement)
  2. noun large hairy tropical spider with fangs that can inflict painful but not highly venomous bites

Etymology

From Medieval Latin tarantula, from Old Italian tarantola, from Taranto (“seaport in southern Italy”), from Latin Tarentum (“Latin name of the town”), from Ancient Greek Τάρᾱς (Tárās, “Greek name of the town”), genitive Τᾰ́ρᾰντος; compare Modern Greek Τάραντας (Tárantas) and Tarantino Tarde. probably from Illyrian *darandos (“oak”). Sense 3 (“Lycosa tarantula”) is the original sense of the word, and refers to the fact that the spider was common in the Apulia region where Taranto is located. Sense 1 (“New World spider in the family Theraphosidae”), the main modern sense of the word, may have been a transferred use of Spanish tarántula (“tarantula (Lycosa tarantula)”) to describe large, hairy spiders found in the New World.

In classic literature

Synonyms

European wolf spider, Lycosa tarentula

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