tarantula

Where does the word "tarantula" come from? It comes from Italian Taranto, passing through Medieval Latin before entering English (1560s).

Tarantula’s story begins in Italian: Taranto meant “Taranto.” A port city in Apulia, southern Italy. By 1400s, the word had taken hold in Medieval Latin as tarantula. A local wolf spider whose bite was blamed for 'tarantism', a frenzy supposedly cured by dancing. It reached English by 1560s as tarantula. Later transferred to the large hairy spiders of the Americas. Today, tarantula means a large hairy spider.

1. Stage 1 · Italian · medieval Taranto "Taranto", a port city in Apulia, southern Italy.
2. Stage 2 · Medieval Latin · 1400s tarantula "Taranto spider", a local wolf spider whose bite was blamed for 'tarantism', a frenzy supposedly cured by dancing.
3. Stage 3 · English · 1560s tarantula "large spider", later transferred to the large hairy spiders of the Americas.