What is the Difference Between a Spider Web and a Cobweb and How Did the Word Cob Originate?

All spiders create their webs through a liquid secretion that hardens in the air.

These webs are nearly invisible, especially to the insects they trap.

In modern language, the spider’s web becomes a cobweb only after it collects dust and becomes visible, so the webs are different in name only.

The word cob came from writings as early as the thirteenth century and had evolved from coppe, an early word for spider.