O.E. webb "woven fabric," from P.Gmc. *wabjan (cf. O.S. webbi, O.N. vefr, Du. webbe, O.H.G. weppi, Ger. gewebe "web"), from PIE *webh- (related to O.E. wefan; see weave). Meaning "spider's web" is first recorded c.1220. Applied to the membranes between the toes of ducks and other aquatic birds from 1576. Internet sense is from 1992, shortened from World Wide Web (1990); website is from 1994; webmaster is attested from 1993.
1323, first element is O.E. -coppe in atorcoppe "spider," lit. "poison-head" (see attercop). Cob for "a spider" was an old word nearly dead even in dialects when J.R.R. Tolkien used it in "The Hobbit" (1937).