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2025-07-23 09:13:19 UTC

Chipotle Axolotl (aka Julian) on Nostr: I just wiped away a cobweb, idly wondered what the etymology of the "cob" in cobweb ...

I just wiped away a cobweb, idly wondered what the etymology of the "cob" in cobweb was, and thought maybe it comes via the Norse for spider (edderkop, literally "poison head", which is surely the most metal name for a spider ever).

Indeed it does, so a cobweb is literally a "head-web". Attercop is still used in dialect for a spider in the North of England.

https://www.etymonline.com/word/cobweb

#etymology