ἀήρ + ἴχνος
Word
Validation
Yes
Word-form
ἀράχνη
Word-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
arakhnē
English translation (word)
spider
Transliteration (Etymon)
aēr + ikhnos
English translation (etymon)
air + footstep
Century
9 AD
Source
Idem
Ref.
Epimerismi in Psalmos, p. 143
Ed.
T. Gaisford, Georgii Choerobosci epimerismi in Psalmos, vol. 3, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1842: 1-192.
Quotation
ἀράχνη παρὰ τὸ ἀραιὰ ἴχνη ἔχειν, ἡ (ἤτοι) ἀσθενῆ· ἢ παρὰ τὸ εἰς τὸν ἀέρα αἴρειν τὰ ἴχνη
Translation (En)
"Spider" (arakhnē) comes from the fact that it has slender footsteps, that is, weak ones; or from the fact that it lifts its feet (ikhnē) into the air (aēr)
Parallels
Etym. Gudianum Additamenta, alpha, p. 184 (Ἀράχνη· παρὰ τὸ ἀραιὰ ἴχνη ἔχειν, ὅ ἐστι λεπτὰ καὶ ἀσθενῆ· ἢ παρὰ τὸ εἰς τὸν ἀέρα αἴρειν τὰ ἴχνη).
It is possible that this etymology is already found in Orion (ἀράχνη παρὰ τὸ ἀηραριχᾶσθαι) if ἀηραριχᾶσθαι is not a mistake for ἀνρριχᾶσθαι "to climb" but a portmanteau word alluding to that etymology.
Modern etymology
The word is connected with Lat. arāneus "spider" but has no etymology. It may be a loanword both in Greek and in Latin (Beekes, EDG)
Persistence in Modern Greek
Αράχνη is used in Modern Greek as 'spider' and also in the phrase "γυναίκα-αράχνη" to designate a dangerous woman who traps men. There also is adjective άραχνος 'miserable', αραχνιάζω 'give myself up', αραχνοϋφαντος 'subtly weaven' (Triandafyllidis DMG)
Entry By
Le Feuvre
Comment
The word is parsed as a compound meaning "aerial feet" (?). It is a descriptive etymology, which implies a contraction of [aē] > [a] (although the [a] of ἀράχνη is short, but vocalic quantity is no longer distinctive).