GC: n
S: SDir – https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2214574517301451 (last access: 2 October 2024); NCBI – https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33738532/ (last access: 2 October 2024).
N: 1. 1854, “a spider,” from French arachnide (1806) or Modern Latin Arachnida (plural), the zoological name for the class of arthropods including spiders, scorpions, and mites, introduced as a class-name 1815 by French biologist Jean Baptiste Pierre Antoine de Monet de Lamarck, from Latinized form of Greek arakhnē (fem.) “spider; spider’s web,” which probably is cognate with Latin aranea “spider, spider’s web,” from aracsna, which is of unknown origin.
The Latin word could be a borrowing of the Greek one, or both could be from a common root. Beekes writes, “As the word looks non-IE and since it is limited to these two languages, it is probably a borrowing.” Latin aranea is the source of common words for “spider” in French (araignée, Old French araigne), Spanish (araña), Italian (aragna), etc. It also was borrowed in Old English as renge “spider;” Middle English had araine “spider” (late 14c., from Old French), which survived in dialect as arain, noted in John Ray’s “Collection of English Words” (1768) as a Nottinghamshire word for “the larger kind of spiders.” Also compare araneology.
Earlier noun forms were arachnidian (1828), arachnidan (1843). As adjectives, arachnidean (1853), arachnidian (1854), arachnidial (1877), arachnidal (1850), arachnidous (1833) have been used.
2. Also known as: Arachnida.
- arachnid, (class Arachnida), any member of the arthropod group that includes spiders, daddy longlegs, scorpions, and (in the subclass Acari) the mites and ticks, as well as lesser-known subgroups. Only a few species are of economic importance—for example, the mites and ticks, which transmit diseases to humans, other animals, and plants.
3. Arachnids range in size from tiny mites that measure 0.08 mm (0.003 inch) to the enormous scorpion Hadogenes troglodytes of Africa, which may be 21 cm (8 inches) or more in length. In appearance, they vary from short-legged, round-bodied mites and pincer-equipped scorpions with curled tails to delicate, long-legged daddy longlegs and robust, hairy tarantulas.
4. Like all arthropods, arachnids have segmented bodies, tough exoskeletons, and jointed appendages. Most are predatory. Arachnids lack jaws and, with only a few exceptions, inject digestive fluids into their prey before sucking its liquefied remains into their mouths. Except among daddy longlegs and the mites and ticks, in which the entire body forms a single region, the arachnid body is divided into two distinct regions: the cephalothorax, or prosoma, and the abdomen, or opisthosoma. The sternites (ventral plates) of the lower surface of the body show more variation than do the tergites (dorsal plates). The arachnids have simple (as opposed to compound) eyes.
5. Insects, Centipedes, Spiders, and Scorpions: arachnid.
- An eight-legged animal, such as a spider and a mite.
6. Cultural Interrelation: We can mention the book for children Arachnid The Spider King (Beast Quest #11) by Adam Blade.
S: 1. Etymonline – https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=arachnid (last access: 2 October 2024). 2 to 4. EncBrit – https://www.britannica.com/animal/arachnid (last access: 2 October 2024). 5. TERMIUM PLUS – https://www.btb.termiumplus.gc.ca/tpv2alpha/alpha-eng.html?lang=eng&i=1&srchtxt=ARACHNID&index=alt&codom2nd_wet=1#resultrecs (last access: 2 October 2024). 6. GR – https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6357278-arachnid-the-spider-king (last access: 2 October 2024).
SYN:
S:
CR: arachnophobia, arthropod, black widow, brown recluse spider, daddy longlegs, insect, mygale, mite, spider, tarantula, tick.
