Meanings
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA small tropical flea, Tunga penetrans, whose females burrow under the skin of animals, including humans, and lay their eggs, causing strong irritation and sores.
More synonyms by meaning
nounsmall tropical flea; the fertile female burrows under the skin of the host including humans
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Cariban*tikô
- Kari'nasiko“chigoe”
- Englishchigoe
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.
More words from Kari'na, Proto-Cariban
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
chigoe. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/chigoe
“chigoe.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/chigoe. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “chigoe,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/chigoe.
Source: chigoe on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.