Clotho

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The youngest of the three Fates in Greek myth, who spins the thread of human life ; a large spider of the genus Clotho found in tropical regions
2. In Greek mythology, the Fate who spins the thread that determines a person's lifespan ; a genus of big spiders native to warm parts of the world
3. One of the three mythological sisters who spin the thread of mortal life ; a spider genus whose members are large and found in tropical areas

Etymology: Clotho is the name of one of the three Fates in Greek myth, the sister who spun the thread of each human life. The name comes straight from the Greek verb "klṓthō," meaning "to spin," so the goddess is named for her task: her spindle is what gives a life its length. The other two Fates tell the rest of the story. Lachesis measured the thread, and Atropos cut it, which is why the three together stood for the whole span of a life from birth to death. Clotho was the first of them, the one at the beginning of that process, and her name carried that role in the Greek word itself.