mosquito

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mosquito^¹

/mɒˈskiː.təʊ/ UK
/məsˈki.toʊ/ US
/məsˈkitə/ colloquial, nonstandard
/məˈskiːto/ Canada
[məˈs̠kɪt̞o]
[-t̞ə]

Rhymes with -iːtəʊ

Where it comes from

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.

noun mosquitoes · mosquitos · muskito · musquito

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. 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.
Similar: mossie, mozzie, skeeter

verb mosquitos · mosquitoing · mosquitoed · muskito · musquito

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

Mosquito^²

proper noun

A settlement in Newfoundland and Labrador.

noun

historical The De Havilland Mosquito, a Second World War military aircraft.

Mosquito^³

noun Mosquitoes · Mosquitos

dated Dated form of Miskito

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: bug, anopheline, insect, gnat, mouse, malarial, larvicidal, pest, breeding, bed, buzz, mama, control, vector, occurrence, appointment

Translations

Every language

noun small flying insect of the family Culicidae, known for biting and sucking blood

Español	mosquito, mosco, plaga, zancudo, cénzalo, cínife
한국어	모기 mogi
日本語	蚊 ka, カ ka
中文	蚊子 wénzi
हिन्दी	मच्छर macchar, मच्छड़ macchaṛ, मशक maśak
Kiswahili	mbu
Português	mosquito, melga
Français	moustique, maringouin
Deutsch	Mücke, Stechmücke, Schnake, Gelse, Moskito
Italiano	zanzara
Ελληνικά	κουνούπι kounoúpi
Română	țânțar
Русский	кома́р komár, моски́т moskít
Tiếng Việt	muỗi
العربية	بَعُوضَة baʕūḍa, نَامُوسَة nāmūsa, برْغش barḡaš
עברית	יַתּוּשׁ yatúsh, כּוֹלְכִית kolkhít

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MLA

"mosquito." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/mosquito. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

mosquito. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/mosquito

Chicago

"mosquito." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/mosquito.

BibTeX

@misc{mosquito_2026,
  title = {mosquito},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/mosquito},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}