Mosquito - Wiktionary

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See also: Mosquito

English

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English Wikipedia has an article on:mosquitoWikipedia
A mosquito (Aedes aegypti)

Alternative forms

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  • muskito (obsolete)

Etymology

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Borrowed from Spanish mosquito (“gnat”), diminutive of mosca (“fly”), from Latin musca (“fly”), from Proto-Indo-European *mūs- (“fly, stinging fly, gnat”). Cognate with West Flemish meuzie (“mosquito”), dialectal Swedish mausa (“fly”), Lithuanian musė (“a fly”) and Sicilian muschitta (“midge”). See also midge. First attested in the 1580s.

Pronunciation

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  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /mɒˈskiː.təʊ/
  • (General American) IPA(key): /məsˈki.toʊ/
    • (colloquial, nonstandard) IPA(key): /məsˈkitə/
  • (Canada) IPA(key): /məˈskiːto/
    • (Ottawa Valley Dialect) IPA(key): [məˈs̠kɪt̞o], [-t̞ə]
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Audio (UK):(file)
  • Rhymes: -iːtəʊ
  • Hyphenation: mos‧qui‧to

Noun

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mosquito (plural mosquitoes or mosquitos)

  1. A small flying insect of the family Culicidae, the females of which bite humans and animals and suck blood, leaving an itching bump on the skin, and sometimes carrying diseases like malaria, dengue and yellow fever. Synonyms: (UK, Australia, New Zealand, informal) mossie, mozzie, (US, informal) skeeter Hypernyms: gnat, midge
    • 1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:I do not quite know what it was that made me poke my head out of the friendly shelter of the blanket, perhaps because I found that the mosquitoes were biting right through it.
    • 1941 March 12, Charles A. Lindbergh, The Wartime Journals of Charles A. Lindbergh, New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, published 1970, page 461:We lit a driftwood fire to help keep the mosquitoes away. It was partially successful.
    • 1987 May 9, Bod Lederer, “US Denies AIDS Bio War with Contradictions”, in Gay Community News, page 8:Nicaragua has been investigating the possibility that the 1985 outbreak of dengue fever along its Honduran border may have resulted from the release of infected mosquitos by U.S. reconnaissance overflights.
    • 2011, Sharon S. Delaney, Celestial Mesa: 2012, →ISBN, page 120:Sue had climbed up to the rafters and attached her mosquito netting over one of the exposed beams in the ceiling, and Edgar had climbed into the bed under it so no flying buzzies would mess with his ears.
    • 2019 October 24, Dennis Webster, “'An indictment of South Africa': whites-only town Orania is booming”, in The Guardian‎[1], archived from the original on 29 March 2022:October in Orania can be charming. When the sun sets, long ribbons of burnt orange settle on the horizon. The flies and mosquitoes that come with the oppressive summer heat haven’t arrived yet. It is Magdalene Kleynhans’ favourite time of year. “You can sit outside until late into the night,” says the businesswoman, whose family spend much of their time outdoors. Her children fish from the banks of the Orange River whenever they choose. Kleynhans leaves the house unlocked. “It’s a good life. It’s a big privilege.”

Derived terms

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  • anopheles mosquito (Anopheles spp.)
  • antimosquito
  • Asian tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus)
  • common mosquito, common house mosquito (Culex pipiens)
  • culex mosquito (Culex spp.)
  • house mosquito (Culex pipiens)
  • malaria mosquito (Anopheles gambiae)
  • marsh mosquito (Anopheles spp.)
  • mosquital
  • mosquitarium
  • mosquiticide
  • mosquito bar
  • mosquito bite
  • mosquitocide
  • Mosquito Coast
  • mosquito coil
  • mosquito drawers
  • mosquito dunk
  • mosquito-eater
  • mosquitoey
  • mosquito fern (Azolla spp.)
  • mosquito fish, mosquitofish, mosquitofish (Gambusia spp. et al.)
  • mosquito fleet
  • mosquito flower (Lopezia racemosa)
  • mosquitogenic
  • mosquito hawk (Tipulomorpha spp. or Epiprocta spp.)
  • mosquitoish
  • mosquito larva
  • mosquitoless
  • mosquito net
  • mosquito netting
  • mosquito party
  • mosquito plant
  • mosquito press
  • mosquitoproof
  • mosquito wire
  • nail mosquito (Anopheles spp.)
  • neato mosquito
  • salt-marsh mosqito
  • skeeto
  • snow mosquito
  • tea mosquito (Helopeltis spp.)
  • tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus, Aedes aegypti)
  • yellow-fever mosquito (Aedes aegypti)
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  • mossie, mozzie
  • skeeter

Descendants

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  • → Cornish: moskito
  • Jamaican Creole: maskitta

Translations

[edit] See mosquito/translations § Noun.

Verb

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mosquito (third-person singular simple present mosquitos, present participle mosquitoing, simple past and past participle mosquitoed)

  1. To fly close to the ground, seemingly without a course.

Galician

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Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /mosˈkito/ [mos̺ˈki.t̪ʊ]
  • Rhymes: -ito
  • Hyphenation: mos‧qui‧to

Noun

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mosquito m (plural mosquitos)

  1. mosquito

Further reading

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  • “mosquito”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2026
  • “mosquito”, in Dicionário Estraviz de galego (in Galician), 2014–2026

Italian

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Noun

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mosquito m (plural mosquiti)

  1. mosquito

Old Spanish

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Etymology

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From mosca (“fly”) +‎ -ito (diminutive suffix).

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /mosˈkito/
  • Rhymes: -ito

Noun

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mosquito m (plural mosquitos)

  1. mosquito
    • c. 1250, Alfonso X, Lapidario, f. 107v:[…] ſera aguardado del danno delos moſquitos. ⁊ de todas maneras de moſcas que seã pozonadas o mordedores. / Et eſto es mas deſcendiẽdo ſobreſta piedra la ũtud de fig̃a de moſq̃to, o de alguna deſtas otras moſcas que dixiemos.[[…] será aguardado del danno de los mosquitos e de todas maneras de moscas que sean pozonadas o mordedores. E esto es mas descendiendo sobr'esta piedra la virtud de figura de mosquito, o de alguna d'estas otras moscas que dixiemos.][…] he will be kept from the harm of mosquitos and all manners of flies that are venomous or that bite. And this will happen more when over this stone descends the virtue of the figure of the mosquito, or that of another one of the flies we mentioned.

Descendants

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  • Spanish: mosquito (see there for further descendants)

Portuguese

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Portuguese Wikipedia has an article on:mosquitoWikipedia pt

Etymology

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Borrowed from Spanish mosquito, from Old Spanish mosquito, from mosca + -ito. By surface analysis, mosca +‎ -ito. Piecewise doublet of mosquete.

Pronunciation

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  • (Brazil) IPA(key): /mosˈki.tu/, /musˈki.tu/
  • (Brazil) IPA(key): /mosˈki.tu/, /musˈki.tu/
    • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA(key): /moʃˈki.tu/, /muʃˈki.tu/
    • (Southern Brazil) IPA(key): /mosˈki.to/
  • (Portugal) IPA(key): /muʃˈki.tu/
  • Rhymes: -itu
  • Hyphenation: mos‧qui‧to

Noun

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mosquito m (plural mosquitos, diminutive mosquitinho or mosquitito or mosquitozinho or mosquitozito, augmentative mosquitão)

  1. mosquito (flying insect) Synonyms: (North Brazil) carapanã, (Portugal) melga, (Northeast Brazil) muriçoca, (Brazil) pernilongo

Synonyms

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Regional synonyms of mosquito (“mosquito”)
view map; edit data
Dialect groupDialectLocationWords
BrazilianSertanejoCampo Grandemosquito, pernilongo
Cuiabámosquito, muriçoca, pernilongo
Goiâniamuriçoca, pernilongo
AmazofoniaBelémcarapanã
Boa Vistacarapanã, mosquito, muriçoca, pernilongo
Rio Brancocarapanã, pernilongo
Macapácarapanã, muriçoca, pernilongo
Manauscarapanã, mosquito, muriçoca, pernilongo
Serra AmazônicaPorto Velhocarapanã, mosquito, muriçoca, pernilongo
BaianoSalvadormosquito, muriçoca, pernilongo
North CoastSão Luísmosquito, muriçoca, pernilongo, praga
Teresinamuriçoca, pernilongo
Fortalezamosquito, muriçoca, pernilongo
Brazilian NortheasternAracajumosquito, muriçoca, pernilongo
João Pessoamosquito, muriçoca, pernilongo
Maceiómosquito, muriçoca, pernilongo
Natalmosquito, muriçoca, pernilongo
RecifenseRecifemosquito, muriçoca, pernilongo
Brazilian SouthernCuritibamosquito, pernilongo
FlorianopolitanFlorianópolispernilongo
GaúchoPorto Alegremosquito, pernilongo
CariocaRio de Janeiromosquito, pernilongo
FluminenseVitóriamosquito, muriçoca, pernilongo
MineiroBelo Horizontepernilongo
PaulistanoSão Paulomosquito, pernilongo
EuropeanEstremenhanLisbonmelga, mosquito
AzoreanAltaresmosquito
Calhetamosquito, melga
Carapachomosquito
Castelo Brancomosquito
Cedrosmosquito
Fajãzinhamosquito
Fontinhasmosquito
Mosteirosmosquito
Nordestemosquito
Ponta Garçamosquito
Ponta Ruivamosquito
Rabo de Peixemosquito
Rosaismosquito
Santo Espíritomosquito
São Roque do Picomosquito-bravo
Terrasmosquito, mosquito-bravo
Vila do Corvomosquito
This table shows various regional forms in the Portuguese language.

Derived terms

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  • mosquitada
  • mosquitão (augmentative)
  • mosquiteiro
  • mosquitinho (diminutive)
  • mosquitito (diminutive)
  • mosquito-da-dengue
  • mosquito-elétrico
  • mosquito-palha
  • mosquito-pólvora
  • mosquito-prego
  • mosquito-remela
  • mosquitozinho (diminutive)
  • mosquitozito (diminutive)
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  • mosca

Descendants

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  • → Hunsrik: Muskitt

Further reading

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  • “mosquito”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
  • “mosquito”, in Dicionário Eletrônico Houaiss [Houaiss Electronic Dictionary] (in Portuguese), São Paulo: UOL, 2004–2026
  • “mosquito”, in Dicionário infopédia da Lingua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2026
  • “mosquito”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2026, →ISBN
  • “mosquito”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Spanish

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Etymology

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Inherited from Old Spanish mosquito, from mosca + -ito.

Cognate with Sicilian muschitta (“midge”), Italian moschetto. Doublet of mosquete (“musket”)

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /mosˈkito/ [mosˈki.t̪o]
  • Audio (Colombia):(file)
  • Rhymes: -ito
  • Syllabification: mos‧qui‧to

Noun

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mosquito m (plural mosquitos)

  1. mosquito Synonyms: zancudo, (Mexico) moyote, cénzalo
  2. gnat
  3. (Mexico, colloquial) trimmer
  4. (literal) diminutive of mosco (“small fly”)

Derived terms

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  • cerebro de mosquito
  • mosquitero
  • mosquito simúlido
  • mosquito tigre

Descendants

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  • → Belarusian: маскі́т (maskít)
  • → Dutch: muskiet
    • Afrikaans: muskiet
    • Berbice Creole Dutch: maskiti
    • Negerhollands: moeskit, moskite, muskit, moskit
    • → Sranan Tongo: maskita
      • → Caribbean Hindustani: maskitá
      • → Caribbean Javanese: maskitah
  • → Esperanto: moskito
  • → English: mosquito, muskito (obsolete)
    • → Cornish: moskito
    • Jamaican Creole: maskitta
  • → Estonian: moskiito
  • → French: moustique (with metathesis)
  • → German: Moskito
  • →⇒ Icelandic: moskítófluga
  • → Latvian: moskīts
  • → Norman: moustique (with metathesis)
  • → Portuguese: mosquito
    • → Hunsrik: Muskitt
  • → Russian: моски́т (moskít)
    • → Yiddish: מאָסקיט (moskit)
  • → Ukrainian: москі́т (moskít)

See also

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  • jején m

Further reading

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  • “mosquito”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

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