chigoe

Meaning

A small tropical flea, Tunga penetrans, whose females burrow under the skin of animals, including humans, and lay their eggs, causing strong irritation and sores.

Synonyms

chigger

chigoe flea

Tunga penetrans

jigger

sand flea

beach buggy

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈt͡ʃɪ.ɡoʊ/

Etymology

Uncertain. Possibly from a Cariban language term such as Kari'na siko (“chigoe”) (early recorded variant chico), from Proto-Cariban *tikô, or else a West African borrowing such as Wolof or Yoruba jiga (“insect”). The eighteenth century historian Charlevoix refers to them as chique in his 1730 history of Hispaniola.