'spider-like' originates from Modern English compounding of the noun 'spider' and the adjectival suffix '-like', where 'spider' comes from Old English 'spīthra' (or 'spīthre') meaning the animal 'spider', and the suffix '-like' comes from Old English '-līc' meaning 'body; form' (later becoming the adjective-forming '-like').

'spider' changed from Old English 'spīthra' (or 'spīthre') into Middle English forms and eventually became the Modern English 'spider'; the suffix '-līc' evolved into Middle English '-lich' and then '-like', and in Modern English these elements combined to form compounds such as 'spider-like'.

Initially, the parts meant 'spider' (the animal) and 'having the form of' respectively; over time they combined in Modern English to mean 'resembling a spider' and extended figuratively to describe web-like or entangling qualities.