The European wolf spider name Lycosa accentuata Latreille, 1817, has had a long and convoluted nomenclatural history. The interpretation of the name has baffled arachnologists for more than two centuries. Here we describe the historical development of the evolving interpretations and show that the name is certainly not a senior synonym of Alopecosa barbipes (Sundevall, 1833) or A. farinosa (Herman, 1879). To stabilise the nomenclature, we select a neotype for Lycosa accentuata consistent with the original description; consequently the name is confirmed as a junior subjective synonym of Araneus trabalis Clerck, 1757, valid name Alopecosa trabalis (Clerck, 1757). This action helps to finally stabilise the nomenclature of an important species pair of great interest for evolutionary and conservation biology.