arachnid

[uh-rak-nid]

See more synonyms for arachnid on Thesaurus.com

noun

any wingless, carnivorous arthropod of the class Arachnida, including spiders, scorpions, mites, ticks, and daddy-longlegs, having a body divided into two parts, the cephalothorax and the abdomen, and having eight appendages and no antennae.Compare insect.

adjective

belonging or pertaining to the arachnids.

Origin of arachnid

1865–70; < New Latin Arachnida < Greek aráchn(ē) spider, spider's web + New Latin -ida -ida

Related formsa·rach·ni·dan

[uh-rak-ni-duh n] /əˈræk nɪ dən/, adjective, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for arachnid

tick, mite, tarantula, scorpion, harvestman

Examples from the Web for arachnid

Contemporary Examples of arachnid

The scorpion, a Heterometrus spinifer, is completely edible, despite the arachnid being deadly if alive.
Camel in a Can and 6 More Weird Canned Meats
January 5, 2014

Historical Examples of arachnid

The arachnid are followed by the myriapoda (centipedes, etc.), and these by the insecti or true insects.
Scientific American Supplement, Vol. XV., No. 388, June 9, 1883
Various
His comparison of the Arachnid appendages with those of insects and Crustacea is very curious.
Form and Function
E. S. (Edward Stuart) Russell
It treats of curious animals which the author considers as more nearly allied to the Insecta than to the Crustacea or Arachnid.
Anecdotes & Incidents of the Deaf and Dumb
W. R. Roe
The characteristics of the median eyes must then be especially sought for in the arachnid group.
The Origin of Vertebrates
Walter Holbrook Gaskell

British Dictionary definitions for arachnid

arachnid

noun

any terrestrial chelicerate arthropod of the class Arachnida, characterized by simple eyes and four pairs of legs. The group includes the spiders, scorpions, ticks, mites, and harvestmen

Derived Formsarachnidan, adjective, noun

Word Origin for arachnid

C19: from New Latin Arachnida, from Greek arakhnē spider

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

Word Origin and History for arachnid

"a spider," 1869, from French arachnide (1806) or Modern Latin Arachnida, introduced as name for this class of arthropods 1815 by French biologist Jean Baptiste Pierre Antoine de Monet de Lamarck (1744-1829), from Greek arakhne (fem.) "spider; spider's web," which probably is cognate with Latin aranea "spider, spider's web" (borrowed in Old English as renge "spider"), from aracsna. The Latin word could be a Greek borrowing or both could be from a common root. An earlier noun form was arachnidian (1828).

arachnid in Science

arachnid

[ə-răk′nĭd]

Any of various arthropods of the class Arachnida, such as spiders, scorpions, mites, and ticks. Arthropods are characterized by four pairs of segmented legs and a body that is divided into two regions, the cephalothorax and the abdomen.