cootie

Meaning

1. (British-Army, Canada, US, colloquial, dated, slang) A louse (Pediculus humanus).
2. (Australia, Canada, US, childish, colloquial, plural-normally) Any germ or contaminant, real or imagined, especially from the opposite gender (for pre-pubescent children).
3. (rare) A nest-building female American coot (counterpart to cooter).
4. (rare, slang) A sideswiper, a type of telegraph key.

Synonyms

body louse

louse

Pediculus corporis

Translations

القملة

Biene

🐝

Laus

ψείρα

pou

microbes

Pediculus corporis

pidocchio del corpo

piolho

piojo

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈkuːti/

Etymology

Probably from Malay kutu (“flea, louse”) (and/or Tagalog/Maori). First attested in English in 1917 as British army slang during World War I.