Is there a difference between spider-webs and cobwebs? What is the difference?

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It seems like this is a question that a lot of people don't really understand, because the answers seem to go along two specific paths - its either a type of spider-web that's more elaborate than a normal web, or its an abandoned web that collects dust, or any other dusty stringy substance found in corners. Because of the diverging answers, I'm going to try and pool the wisdom and start from the beginning with this, and attempt to make all accounts of the word cobweb agree.

Lee Daniel Quinn's says (information supplied by bryonjr - THANKS SO MUCH!) that the problem begins with the word cob web, and I think this is where the diverging accounts come from. Years ago, spiders and other arachnids were referred to as cobs, so in the earliest times of usage, the two words were synonymous (the earliest times are dated back to the 14th century). In Middle English, the word was "coppe" (c. 1323) and later cop (funny that arachnids feeding on speeding flies and officers feeding on speeding teens should share the same name at one time or another). The Old English word for the modern-day spider was attercop, "atter" meaning "poison" and "cop" meaning "head." He mentions that cop is also probably where we got the word for corn on the "cob," being more literally a head of corn rather than an ear. Makes sense, because we think of a head of lettuce - why not a head of corn? I would also assume, and this is mere extrapolation on my part, that the snake called the adder is named after the word atter, meaning poison. The word cob is only really used by the British nowadays, meaning "nut" (shape of head), "horse" (large head), male swan (chief or head swan), and a type of loaf (a head-shaped loaf, at that).

So, we can conclude from this information that in the beginning, when someone would notice a cobweb, he or she would be noticing the same phenomenon that would be called a spider-web today.

From here the definition seems to meander off into different directions. I would imagine that it was those who clean houses, or just those who live in dirty houses, who decided that the cob web is merely a collection of dust that appears to have strands. Perhaps this is merely singular strands of spider-web that are not formed into an intricate weaving. Perhaps this is an actual spider-web that has collected dust. Perhaps there is no spider involved whatsoever, and these are just threads of dust condensed in a corner. This is one path the meaning has taken. I would imagine that etymologists and other scientists evolved the word in the other direction. This is the impression I get from the information bryonjr supplied me off of www.cogsci.princeton.edu/cgi-bin/webwn. According to this information, what we normally refer to as a spider-web is a specific type of web made by specific spiders that is scientifically called the orb web. Orb, more than likely, refers to the fact that the weaving of the strands roughly orbits a central point, and it is shaped two-dimensionally and circular. A cob web is described as dense and elaborate, which suggests that it is three dimensional. It is said to be more efficient, so I would imagine it covers larger areas and is able to catch larger prey. I think that both of these definitions are valid, depending on which context one comes from.

And to conclude this whole thing, I would summarize that today's definition of cob-web depends on the context from which someone views the word. For the everyday people like myself, a spider-web is a web inhabited by a spider which is used for catching prey. A cob web is likely to be abandoned and collecting dust.