Agalena

noun

Ag·​a·​le·​na

ˌa-gə-ˈlēnə

: a genus (the type of the family Agalenidae) of spiders that spin concave webs ending in a funnel-shaped tube where the spider hides see grass spider

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from New Latin (altered from the original taxon Agelena), from a- a- entry 2 + Greek galḗnē "stillness (of the sea), calm, serenity," going back to *galas-nā, probably (if original sense was "cheerfulness") going back to Indo-European *ǵlh₂-es-, whence, with full grade, Greek gelân "to laugh," gélōs "laughter"

First Known Use

1869, in the meaning defined above

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