Etymology

cobweb

cob·web
C3O1B3W4E1B3

Today it means: A spiderweb, especially a large one, an old abandoned one covered with debris and dust or an asymmetrical one woven with an irregular pattern of threads. Full definition →

Middle English copweb ← Old English ātorcoppe
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The story

  1. Old English · inherited fromwebb
  2. Old English · inherited fromātorcoppe“spider”
  3. Middle English · inherited fromcopweb
  4. English todaycobweb

From Middle English copweb, coppeweb, coppewebbe, from Old English ātorcoppe (“spider”) + Old English webb. Compare Middle Dutch kopwebbe, German Low German Kobbenwebbe (Westphalian). By surface analysis, cob (“spider”, obsolete) + web.

Words from the same roots

Old Englishātorcoppe all →

coppeattercop

Old Englishwebb all →

web

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.