head louse

noun

A parasitic insect, Pediculus humanus capitis, which lives among the hairs on the head of a human and feeds on blood.

Similar
Pediculus capitis
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Meanings

nounhead louse (plural head lice)

plural head lice · alternative headlouse

  1. A parasitic insect, Pediculus humanus capitis, which lives among the hairs on the head of a human and feeds on blood.

Synonyms & antonyms

nouninfests the head and body of humans

Similar
Pediculus capitis
Broader
lousesucking louse

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

From head + louse. Compare North Frisian hoodlüs (“headlouse”), Dutch hoofdluis (“headlouse”), Swedish huvudlus (“headlouse”), Icelandic höfuðlús (“headlouse”).

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Catalan poll del cabell
  • poll del cabellinsect
Chinese Mandarin 頭蝨 /头虱
  • 頭蝨 /头虱 (tóushī)insect
Danish hovedlus
  • hovedlusinsect
Estonian peatäi
  • peatäiinsect
Finnish päätäi
  • päätäiinsect
German Kopflaus
  • Kopflausinsect
Hindi जूँ
  • जूँ (jū̃)insect
Irish treaghdán, míol gruaige
  • treaghdáninsect
  • míol gruaigeinsect
  • babhdaíinsect
Italian pidocchio del capo
  • pidocchio del capoinsect
Japanese 人虱
  • 人虱 (hitojirami)insect
Korean 머릿니
  • 머릿니 (meorinni)insect
Norwegian Bokmål hodelus
  • hodelusinsect
Portuguese piolho-da-cabeça
  • piolho-da-cabeçainsect
Romanian păduche de cap
  • păduche de capinsect
Russian головна́я вошь
  • головна́я вошь (golovnája vošʹ)insect
Spanish piojo de la cabeza
  • piojo de la cabezainsect
Swedish huvudlus
  • huvudlusinsect
Thai เหา
  • เหา (hǎo)insect
Vietnamese chấy, chí
  • chấyinsect
  • chíinsect
Welsh lleuen pen
  • lleuen peninsect
Cite this entry
APA

head louse. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/head%20louse

MLA

“head louse.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/head%20louse. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “head louse,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/head%20louse.

Source: head louse on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.