Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “spiderless” come from?

spiderless (English) comes from English spider, from Middle English spiþre, from Old English spīþra, from Proto-West Germanic *spinþrijō, from Proto-Indo-European (s)penh₁- — to twist; to weave.

spiderless (English): Without spiders

Definitions

  1. Without spiders

Ancestry of “spiderless”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishspiderAny of various eight-legged, predatory...
2Middle EnglishspiþreA spider
3Old Englishspīþraspider
4Proto-West Germanic*spinþrijō—
5Proto-Indo-European(s)penh₁-to twist; to weave
Every word from Proto-Indo-European (s)penh₁- →