Etymology

horsefly

horse·fly
H4O1R1S1E1F4L1Y4

Today it means: Any of several medium to large flies, of the family Tabanidae, that suck the blood of mammals (not to be confused with Stomoxys calcitrans, the stable fly, or dog fly). Full definition →

Middle English horse fliȝe
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The story

  1. Middle English · inherited fromhorse fliȝe
  2. English todayhorsefly

From Middle English horse fliȝe, equivalent to horse + fly.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.