This week's word originates from the southern Italian city Taranto, near where large spiders could be found - hence the word tarantula.
Tarantism was supposedly a nervous disorder which resulted in the sufferer needing to dance in a mad, whirling way (hence the dance tarentella). The illness was frequently reported in Southern Italy from the 15th to 17th centuries.
Tarantism was reportedly either caused by the bite of a tarantula or alternatively was cured by a tarantula's bite.
Sources:
Shorter Oxford Dictionary (2 volumes) 6th edition, 2007
Chambers Dictionary of Etymology, 2010
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