Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word
gnat. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
gnat, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
gnat in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
gnat you have here. The definition of the word
gnat will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
gnat, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
Etymology
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 (“mote; particle; atom”), German Gnatz (“scabs; rash; scabies; stinginess”). Related also gnit and gnaw.
Pronunciation
Noun
gnat (plural gnats)
- Any small insect of the order Diptera, specifically within the suborder Nematocera.
- (informal) An annoying person.
1971, Richard Carpenter, Catweazle and the Magic Zodiac, Harmondsworth: Puffin Books, page 115:"Away thou whining gnat, and trouble me not!"
Derived terms
Translations
any small insect of the order Diptera
- Afrikaans: mug
- Arabic:
- Egyptian Arabic: برغش m (barḡaš)
- Armenian: մոծակ (hy) (mocak)
- Bashkir: серәкәй (serəkəy)
- Bengali: ডাঁশ (bn) (ḍãś)
- Bulgarian: комар (bg) m (komar)
- Catalan: mosquit (ca) m
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 蚋 (zh) (ruì), (mosquito) 蚊 (zh) (wén)
- Danish: myg (da) c, stikmyg c
- Dupaningan Agta: rahik
- Dutch: mug (nl) f, knut (nl)
- Erzya: марав (marav)
- Esperanto: kulo (eo)
- Estonian: please add this translation if you can
- Faroese: mýggjabiti m
- Finnish: sääski (fi)
- French: moucheron (fr) m
- German: Stechmücke (de) f, (colloquial, regional) Schnake (de) f
- Greek:
- Ancient: κώνωψ m (kṓnōps)
- Greenlandic: ippernaq
- Guaraní: ñati'û
- Gujarati: મચ્છર m (macchar)
- Hungarian: szúnyog (hu)
- Irish: corrmhíol m
- Italian: moscerino (it)
- Japanese: 蚋 (ja) (ぶよ, buyo), ブヨ (buyo)
- Kapampangan: absang
- Korean: 모기 (ko) (mogi)
- Latin: culex m, (rare) alucita f
- Latvian: ods (lv) m
- Lithuanian: mašalas m
- Macedonian: мушичка f (mušička), комарец m (komarec)
- Malagasy: aloiloy (mg)
- Malayalam: നുളമ്പ് (ml) (nuḷampŭ)
- Manx: meeyl f, quill f
- Norman: bibet m
- Norwegian: knott m
- Persian: پشه (fa) (paše)
- Portuguese: mosquito (pt) m, mosquitinho m pl
- Russian: мо́шка (ru) f (móška), (mosquito) кома́р (ru) m (komár)
- Scottish Gaelic: meanbh-chuileag f
- Serbo-Croatian:
- Cyrillic: мушица f, (mosquito) комарац f
- Roman: mušica (sh) f, (mosquito) komarac (sh) f
- Sicilian: muschitta (scn) f, sampagghiuni m
- Spanish: (mosquito) mosquito (es) m
- Swedish: stickmygga (sv) c
- Tagalog: niknik
- Turkish: sivrisinek (tr)
- Ukrainian: мошка f (moška), мушка f (muška), комар (uk) m (komar)
- Vietnamese: ruồi nhuế
- Volapük: (♂♀) muskitil, (♂) himuskitil, (♀) jimuskitil
- Welsh: gwybedyn m
- West Frisian: langskonk
|
See also
Anagrams
Middle English
Etymology
From Old English gnætt, from Proto-Germanic *gnattaz.
Pronunciation
Noun
gnat (plural gnattes)
- A gnat or similar insect.
- Something of little worth or importance.
Descendants
References
Polish
Etymology
Inherited from Proto-Slavic *gnatъ.
Pronunciation
Noun
gnat m animal (diminutive gnacik)
- (colloquial) large bone
- (slang) gun
Declension
Further reading
- gnat in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
- gnat in Polish dictionaries at PWN