Obs. or dial. Forms: 1 attorcoppa, 1–5 attercoppe, 4 atturcoppe, addurcop, 5 attyrcope, -coppe, 6 att-, addircop, 7 attercob, 9 attercap, 4–9 attercop. [OE. attorcoppa, f. átor, attor, poison † coppa, deriv. of cop top, summit, round head, or copp cup, vessel; in reference to the supposed venomous properties of spiders. Cf. also Du. spinne-cop ‘spider,’ and COB-WEB, formerly cop-webbe; whence it appears probable that the simple coppa was itself = ‘spider.’]
1. A spider.
c. 1000. Sax. Leechd., I. 92. Wiþ attorcoppan bite.
a. 1250. Owl & Night., 600. Wat etestu … Bute attercoppe and fule vliȝe?
c. 1350[?]. MS., in R. Brunne’s Chron. (Hearne), Pref. 200. An atturcoppe cum owte … and bote hem by the nekkus … þat II. of hem weron deed.
1382. Wyclif, Isa. lix. 5. The webbis of an attercop [1388 an yreyn].
a. 1400. Metr. Gloss., in Wright’s Voc., 177. Aranea, addurcop.
c. 1425. Wyntoun, Cron., VIII. xi. 46. Alsa kobbyd in his crope As he had ettyn ane attyrcope.
a. 1450. Knt. de la Tour (1868), 63. The attercoppe … makithe his nettes to take the flyes.
1658. Rowland, trans. Moufet’s Theat. Ins., 1058. The English [call it] Attercop, Spider, Spinner.
1691. Ray, N. Countr. Wds., 139. Attercop.
2. fig. Applied to a venomous malignant person.
c. 1505. Kennedie, Flyting, 523. Thow irefull attircop, Pilate, apostata.
1881. W. Patterson, Antrim Gloss. (E. D. S.), Attercap, cross-grained, ill-natured person, ‘Ya cross attercap, ya.’
3. Misapplied to: A spider’s web.
1530. Palsgr., 193/1. Addircop, or a spinner’s web, araignee.
1674. Ray, N. Countr. Wds., 3. An Attercob, A Spiders Web. Cumberland.
1873. R. Ferguson, Cumberld. Dial. (E. D. S.).
