Etymology

gnat

G2N1A1T1

Today it means: A biting insect, especially a mosquito. Full definition →

Middle English gnat ← Old English gnætt ← Proto-West Germanic *gnatt
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gnat · noun1

  1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*gʰen-“to gnaw; bite; scratch; grind”
  2. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*gʰneHdʰn-
  3. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*gnattaz
  4. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*gnatt
  5. Old English · inherited fromgnætt“gnat; midge; mosquito”
  6. Middle English · inherited fromgnat
  7. English todaygnat

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.

Gnat · noun2

From gnat.

Words from the same roots

Proto-Indo-European*gʰneHdʰn- all →

gnit

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.