Tarantulas

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A type of large, hairy spider known for its formidable appearance
2. Often kept as exotic pets due to their unique characteristics and behaviors
3. Commonly found in warm regions, they have a diet primarily consisting of insects and small animals

Etymology: The word "tarantulas" is simply the plural of "tarantula," so the story belongs to the singular. The name begins with a town: the Greek colony Tárās, known to the Romans as Tarentum, sits on the heel of Italy in the region of Apulia, and its Italian name is Taranto. A spider common in that region was called a "tarantola" in Old Italian, and the name passed through Medieval Latin into English. That original spider was not the large hairy creature familiar today but a wolf spider, Lycosa tarantula. The modern sense is a later transfer. Spanish speakers applied "tarántula" to the big, hairy spiders they found in the New World, and English adopted that sense, which is now the main meaning. The name's deeper origin is uncertain, though it has been linked to an Illyrian word meaning "oak."

Synonyms: spiders, arachnids