Fun story but the Ancient Greek word arakhne (from which arachnid comes) doesn't really have any other cognates with other Indo-European languages, and doesn't seem to be back-reconstructable. In other words, it's very likely a relic of whoever lived in Greece before the Proto-Greeks arrived.

Cool stuff, thanks. The internet tells me the Euskara word for "spider" is "armiarma," and I suppose I was thinking there might be a "k" in there somewhere, but instead there is an "ar." Evidence of a subtle connection? Almost certainly not. Pointless observation, from me, on BlueSky? Absolutely.

Love when the Dr chimes in

Fascinating