mosquito

The definition of a mosquito is a member of the family Culicidae that sucks blood from animals.

(noun)

An example of a mosquito is a pesky flying summer bug that can cause West Nile virus, malaria and yellow fever.

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See mosquito in Webster's New World College Dictionary

noun pl. mosquitoes or mosquitos

any of a large family (Culicidae) of two-winged dipteran insects, the females of which have skin-piercing mouthparts used to extract blood from animals, including humans: some varieties are carriers of certain diseases, as malaria and yellow fever

Origin: Sp & Port, dim. of mosca < L musca, a fly: see midge

Related Forms:

See mosquito in American Heritage Dictionary 4

noun 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.

Origin:

Origin: Spanish

Origin: and Portuguese

Origin: , from

Origin: diminutive of mosca, fly

Origin: , from Latin musca

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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.

noun pl. Mosquito or Mos·qui·tos

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