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Aranea diademata

Aranea diademata

8.4
A common garden spider with a white cross on its back
  • noun
  • Specialized
translation icon : araña de jardín
  • Children are often fascinated by the cross pattern on the back of the Aranea diademata.

Examples

  • The Aranea diademata is often seen spinning orb-shaped webs in late summer.

  • I spotted an Aranea diademata in my garden.

  • Biologists observed an Aranea diademata constructing its intricate web in the garden.

  • The Aranea diademata is often seen in autumn.

  • Biologists observed an Aranea diademata constructing its intricate web in the garden.

  • Children are often fascinated by the cross pattern on the back of the Aranea diademata.

  • The Aranea diademata is often seen spinning orb-shaped webs in late summer.

Synonyms

garden spider
vsAranea diademata
  • UK
2.8

A common spider that lives in gardens and makes round webs

is identified by a distinctive white cross-shaped marking rather than web structure

Surface Forms

Morphology

Aranea + diademata

This is a Latin binomial (scientific name) rather than a compositional English phrase; knowing 'Aranea' as a spider genus and an obscure form 'diademata' (not a common English word) does not allow a B1 learner to derive the everyday meaning 'common garden spider with a white cross'. Species names are lexicalized and language-specific, so the overall meaning is not predictably built from the parts.

Etymology

Aranea diademata comes from Latin words: Aranea means 'spider' and diademata means 'crowned' or 'wearing a small crown' because the spider has a white cross on its back that looks like a tiny crown. So the name points to the spider with the cross-shaped mark.