tarantula

[ tuh-ran-chuh-luh ]
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noun,plural ta·ran·tu·las, ta·ran·tu·lae [tuh-ran-chuh-lee]. /təˈræn tʃəˌli/.
  1. any of several large, hairy spiders of the family Theraphosidae, as Aphonopelma chalcodes, of the southwestern U.S., having a painful but not highly venomous bite.

  2. any of various related spiders.

  1. a large wolf spider, Lycosa tarantula, of southern Europe, having a bite once thought to be the cause of tarantism.

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Origin of tarantula

1
1555–65; <Medieval Latin <Italian tarantola.See Taranto, -ule

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British Dictionary definitions for tarantula

tarantula

/ (təˈræntjʊlə) /


nounplural -las or -lae (-ˌliː)
  1. any of various large hairy mostly tropical spiders of the American family Theraphosidae

  2. a large hairy spider, Lycosa tarentula of S Europe, the bite of which was formerly thought to cause tarantism

Origin of tarantula

1
C16: from Medieval Latin, from Old Italian tarantola, from Taranto

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012