Where does “tarantula” come from?

tarantula (Medieval Latin) comes from Italian tarantola, from Italian Taranto, from Latin Tarentum, from Ancient Greek Τάρᾱς, from Illyrian darandos — oak.

Ancestry of “tarantula”, step by step

tarantula traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Italian tarantola

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Italiantarantolatarantula
2ItalianTarantothe letter T in the [[Appendix:Italian spelling alphabet
3LatinTarentumLatin name of the town
4Ancient GreekΤάρᾱςTarās; Greek name of the town
5Illyriandarandosoak

via Old Italian tarantola

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Italiantarantola—
2Old ItalianTarantoseaport in southern Italy

Words derived from “tarantula”

Every word from Illyrian darandos →Every word from Ancient Greek Τάρᾱς →Every word from Latin Tarentum →