Re: [tlug] [OT] [Q] Why cobweb means 'spider's net'

["Josh Glover" <jmglov@example.com>]

On 20/04/07, ITSUMI ken-ichi <itsumi.ml@example.com> wrote:

> "cobweb" means "spider's net", so I guessed 'cob' must be 'spider',
> but I cannot find any suitable meanings of 'cob'.
>
> Do you know why cobweb means "spider's net".

Like most native speakers (I would assume), I've never given it any
thought. Turns out you are right on the money (i.e. correct). "cobweb"
comes from the Middle English "coppeweb". "coppe" is the Old[e]
English word for spider.

All of this according to dictionary.com, which now provides some etymology:

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/cobweb

While we are off-topic, I will say that one of the interesting things
to be found in Neil Stephenson's "Baroque Cycle" is the clever hints
about the etymology of words in modern English.

-Josh