English

fiddleback

From fiddle + back.

A compound of fiddle + back

Proto-Germanic *fiþulǭ

Proto-West Germanic *fiþulā

Old English *fiþele ‘fiddle or violin’

Middle English fithele ‘a string instrument played with a bow’

Proto-Germanic *baką ‘back’

Proto-West Germanic *bak

Old English bæc

Middle English bak ‘the back’

English back

Today it means

noun The brown recluse spider.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / fiddleback