gnat

Meaning

1. Any small insect of the order Diptera, specifically within the suborder Nematocera.
2. (informal) An annoying person.

Synonyms

mosquito

🦟

midge

sandfly

skeeter

fly

✈️

culex

fruit fly

any small biting fly

buffalo gnat

a tiny fly

black fly

a tiny gnat

bug

🐛

cricket

🦗

nipper

small insect

wriggler

culicidae

Translations

mug

🦟

mosquito

🦟

moustique

🦟

mosquito

🦟

moucheron

Mücke

Stechmücke

🦟

culex

zanzara

🦟

mosquit

🦟

sivrisinek

🦟

Schnake

steekmug

🦟

jején

Pronounced as (IPA)

/næt/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: gnat

Inherited from Old English: gnætt

Cognate with Low German: Gnatte

Cognate with Swedish: gnatt

Cognate with German: Gnatz

In summary

From Middle English gnat, from Old English gnætt (“gnat; midge; mosquito”), from Proto-West Germanic *gnatt, *gnattu, from Proto-Germanic *gnattaz, *gnattuz (“gnat”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰneHdʰn-, *gʰneHd- (“to gnaw; scratch”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰen- (“to gnaw; bite; scratch; grind”). Cognate with Low German Gnatte (“gnat”), dialectal Swedish gnatt (“mosquito”), German Gnatz (“scabs; rash; scabies; stinginess”). Related also gnit and gnaw.