Meanings
plural tsetses · alternative rare tsetze · alternative rare tzetze · alternative rare tzetse
- Any fly of the genus Glossina, native to Africa, that feeds on human and animal blood; known primarily as a carrier of parasitic trypanosomes.
Species of Trypanosoma transmitted by tsetse cause diseases of economic importance in humans and domestic animals in sub-Saharan Africa.
1999, Stephen G. A. Leak, Tsetse Biology and Ecology: Their Role in the Epidemiology and Control of Trypanosomosis, CABI Publishing, page 7Synonyms: tsetse fly
Synonyms & antonyms
nounAny fly of the genus Glossina, native to Africa, that feeds on human and animal blood; known primarily as a carrier of parasitic trypanosomes.
More synonyms by meaning
nounbloodsucking African fly; transmits sleeping sickness etc.
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Tswanatsêtsê“fly”
- Englishtsetse
Borrowed from Tswana tsêtsê (“fly”).
More words from Tswana
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian муха цеце
- муха цеце (muha cece)fly of the genus Glossina
Chinese Mandarin 采采蠅 /采采蝇
- 采采蠅 /采采蝇 (cǎicǎiyíng)fly of the genus Glossina
Esperanto ceceo
- ceceofly of the genus Glossina
Finnish tsetsekärpänen
- tsetsekärpänenfly of the genus Glossina
French tsé-tsé, mouche tsé-tsé
- tsé-tséfly of the genus Glossina
- mouche tsé-tséfly of the genus Glossina
German Tsetsefliege
- Tsetsefliegefly of the genus Glossina
Greek τσε-τσε, τσε-τσέ
- τσε-τσε (tse-tse)fly of the genus Glossina
- τσε-τσέ (tse-tsé)fly of the genus Glossina
Hungarian cecelégy
- cecelégyfly of the genus Glossina
Irish seitse, cuil seitse
- seitsefly of the genus Glossina
- cuil seitsefly of the genus Glossina
Italian mosca tse-tse
- mosca tse-tsefly of the genus Glossina
Japanese ツェツェバエ
- ツェツェバエ (tsetsebae)fly of the genus Glossina
Korean 체체파리
- 체체파리 (chechepari)fly of the genus Glossina
Malay lalat tsetse
- lalat tsetsefly of the genus Glossina
Polish mucha tse-tse, tse-tse
- mucha tse-tsefly of the genus Glossina
- tse-tsefly of the genus Glossina
Portuguese tsé-tsé
- tsé-tséfly of the genus Glossina
Russian цеце́, му́ха цеце́
- цеце́ (cecé)fly of the genus Glossina
- му́ха цеце́ (múxa cecé)fly of the genus Glossina
Slovak tse-tse
- tse-tsefly of the genus Glossina
Spanish tsetsé, tsetse
- tsetséfly of the genus Glossina
- tsetsefly of the genus Glossina
Swahili chafuo, mbung'o
- chafuofly of the genus Glossina
- mbung'ofly of the genus Glossina
- ndorobofly of the genus Glossina
Turkish çeçe
- çeçefly of the genus Glossina
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
tsetse. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tsetse
“tsetse.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tsetse. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “tsetse,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tsetse.
Source: tsetse on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.