mosquito

mos·qui·to  (m-skt)

n. pl. mos·qui·toes or mos·qui·tos

Any of various two-winged insects of the family Culicidae, in which the female of most species is distinguished by a long proboscis for sucking blood. Some species are vectors of diseases such as malaria and yellow fever. Also called regionally skeeter. See Regional Note at possum.

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[Spanish and Portuguese, from diminutive of mosca, fly, from Latin musca.]

Word History: Flies will never be popular creatures, in spite or because of their omnipresence. Two examples of the fly's influence on our lives can be found in the etymologies of the words mosquito and musket, both of which can be traced back to musca, the Latin word for fly. This Latin word became mosca in Spanish and Portuguese, Romance languages that developed from Vulgar Latin. Mosquito, the diminutive of mosca, was borrowed into English (first recorded around 1583) with the same sense "mosquito" that it had in Spanish and Portuguese. The Romance language French was the source of our word musket (first recorded around 1587), which came from French mousquet, which entered French from yet another Romance language, Italian. From Italian mosca, another descendant of Latin musca, was formed the diminutive moschetta with the senses "bolt for a catapult" and "small artillery piece." From moschetta came moschetto, "musket," the source of French mousquet. The use of moschetta, literally "little fly," to mean "bolt from a crossbow" can be ascribed to the fact that both bolt and insect fly, buzz, and sting.

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mosquito

Noun

pl -toes or -tos a two-winged insect, the females of which pierce the skin of humans and animals to suck their blood [Spanish, diminutive of mosca fly]

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

mosquito - two-winged insect whose female has a long proboscis to pierce the skin and suck the blood of humans and animals dipteran, dipteron, dipterous insect, two-winged insects - insects having usually a single pair of functional wings (anterior pair) with the posterior pair reduced to small knobbed structures and mouth parts adapted for sucking or lapping or piercing Culicidae, family Culicidae - mosquitoes gnat - (British usage) mosquito Aedes aegypti, yellow-fever mosquito - mosquito that transmits yellow fever and dengue Aedes albopictus, Asian tiger mosquito - striped native of Japan thriving in southwestern and midwestern United States and spreading to the Caribbean; potential carrier of serious diseases anopheline - any mosquito of the genus Anopheles malaria mosquito, malarial mosquito - transmits the malaria parasite common mosquito, Culex pipiens - common house mosquito Culex fatigans, Culex quinquefasciatus - widespread tropical mosquito that transmits filarial worms

Translations

mosquito [mosquitoes] [mɔsˈkiːtəu] n → mosquito

mosquito [mosquitoes , pl ] [mɔsˈkiːtəu] n → moustique m

mosquito [mɔsˈkiːtəu] [mosquitoes , pl ] n → Stechmücke f;

(in tropics) → Moskito m

mosquito [pl mosquitoes] [mɔsˈkiːtəu] n → zanzara

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mosquito

n mosquito [məˈskiːtou]

any of several types of small insect, which suck blood from animals and people and in this way transmit diseases such as malaria. muskiet بَعوضَه комар moskyt myg das Moskito κουνούπι mosquito sääsk, moskiito پشه hyttynen, moskiitto moustique יָתוּש मच्छर komarac szúnyog nyamuk moskítófluga zanzara 蚊 모기 moskitas, uodas moskīts; ods nyamuk mug mygg komar, moskit mosquito ţânţar комар; москит moskyt, komár komar komarac moskit, stickmygga ยุง sivrisinek 蚊子 москіт; комар مچھر con muỗi 蚊子