‖ tarantato rare.
(taranˈtato)
Pl. -ati (-ˈati). Also fem. taranˈtata, pl. -ate.
[It. taranˈtato ‘bitten with a tarantula’ (Florio), affected with tarantism, f. Taranto name of the town: see -ism.]
One who has been bitten by a tarantula; one suffering from tarantism.
| 1685 Boyle Effects of Mot. vi. 76 Narratives of the effects of Music upon the Tarantati. 1717 Berkeley Tour Italy Wks. 1871 IV. 544 The tarantato that we saw dancing in a circle paced round the room. Ibid. 545 None danced but the tarantata. Her father certainly [was] persuaded that she had her disorder from the tarantula. |