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Arachne

American  
[uh-rak-nee] / əˈræk ni /

noun

Classical Mythology.
  1. a Lydian woman who challenged Athena to a weaving contest and was changed into a spider for her presumption.


Arachne British  
/ əˈræknɪ /

noun

  1. Greek myth a maiden changed into a spider for having presumptuously challenged Athena to a weaving contest

"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

Etymology

Origin of Arachne

from Greek arakhnē spider

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

My daughter loves Athena and Arachne; my son, the Minotaur and Medusa.

From New York Times Feb. 9, 2019

The resulting output was then passed through Rebuilder and SquashOverlaps with parameters to merge adjacent assembled alternative haplotypes and subsequently run through another complete Arachne assembly process to finalize the assembly.

From Nature Jun. 10, 2014

So, really, the climactic battle could only resolve with Arachne allowing Peter to be with Mary Jane, the goddess Athena transforming Arachne into a young woman again, and Arachne ascending into the stars.

From Slate Nov. 29, 2013

The plan diminished the role of Arachne, a mythical spider woman prominent in Taymor’s vision, and hewed more closely to the plot of “Spider-Man” comic books and films.

From BusinessWeek Jan. 18, 2012

She lifted the computer screen for Arachne to see, but the spider snapped, “I’ve memorized it, child. I have an artist’s eye for detail.”

From "The Mark of Athena" by Rick Riordan

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