Where does “mosquito” come from?

Mosquito comes from Spanish mosquito, diminutive of Spanish mosca from Latin musca, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European mu-.

mosquito (English): A small flying insect of the family Culicidae,...

Definitions

  1. A small flying insect of the family Culicidae,...

Ancestry of “mosquito”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1SpanishMosquitomosquito
2Old SpanishmosquitoDiminutive of mosca; a mosquito
3Old Spanishmoscafly
4Latinmuscaa fly; an inquisitive or prying people
5Ancient Greekμυῖαa fly
6Proto-Indo-Europeanmūs-fly, stinging fly, gnat; moist, damp; swamp,...

Words derived from “mosquito”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European mūs- →Every word from Ancient Greek μυῖα →Every word from Latin musca →