'araneid' originates from New Latin 'Araneidae', ultimately from Latin 'Aranea', where 'Aranea' meant 'spider' and the suffix '-id' meant 'belonging to' or 'related to'.

'araneid' developed through scientific New Latin usage (Araneidae) in zoological classification and entered English as a term for members of that family, eventually stabilizing as the modern English noun 'araneid'.

Initially it referred broadly to things relating to 'Aranea' (spiders); over time it came to mean specifically 'a spider of the family Araneidae'.