Karakurt
/ˌkærəˈkʊərt/noun
A venomous black widow spider, especially Latrodectus tredecimguttatus, found in parts of Eurasia.
Did you know?In Central Asian and Turkish folklore, the karakurt’s name evokes a wolf, while the animal itself belongs to Latrodectus, the widow-spider genus associated with the mythic idea of deadly feminine power.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Turkic
Proto-Turkic
*qara
“Black or dark-colored; the reconstructed ancestor of Turkic forms meaning black.”
Old Turkic
Old Turkic
qara
“Black, dark, or gloomy.”
Old Turkic
Old Turkic
kurt
“Wolf; a Turkic animal name later preserved in several Turkic languages.”
Medieval Turkic
Turkic
qara kurt
“Black wolf, formed from qara “black” and kurt “wolf.””
Modern Turkish
Turkish
karakurt
“The black widow spider; literally “black wolf.””
20th Century
English
karakurt
“An English zoological borrowing for a Eurasian black widow spider.”
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