'aranea' originates from Latin, specifically the word 'arānea', where 'arānea' meant 'cobweb' or 'spider' (borrowed from Greek 'ἀράχνη' 'arákhnē').

'aranea' changed from the Greek word 'ἀράχνη' to Latin 'arānea' and later entered Medieval Latin and scientific nomenclature as the genus name 'Aranea', which was used in older taxonomies of orb-weaver spiders.

Initially, it meant 'cobweb' or 'spider', and while that basic sense has remained in literary or historical contexts, the term also came to appear as a formal scientific genus name in taxonomy.