"spider" is such a fascinating name for a creature. what does it mean "to spide"? will we ever know? what kind of unknown prehistoric action is it
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"spider" is such a fascinating name for a creature. what does it mean "to spide"? will we ever know? what kind of unknown prehistoric action is it
forgive me for not getting the joke and just responding but we actually have a pretty good idea on this specific thing and I think it's cool:
spider -> spyder -> spiþra, which is pretty close to the root they've constructed in "proto-Germanic" via comparative methods, *spenthro, which is closely related to the word for spinning in the textile sense, so "to spide" is basically to spin stuff.
There was even another Old English term for spiders that referenced spinning/weaving, "gangewifre", which is like, going-weaving-er (atorcoppe / atercopp / etercapp is the odd one out, just roughly being 'poisonous round thing').