gnat meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

gnat

nounalso spelled Gnat

/næt/

Etymology 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.

Any small insect of the order Diptera, specifically within the suborder Nematocera.

[A]nd his servant was beside him with a fan to keep away the flies and gnats.1828, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, volume I, London: William Harrison Ainsworth, page 293:

Informal An annoying person.

"Away thou whining gnat, and trouble me not!"1971, Richard Carpenter, Catweazle and the Magic Zodiac, Harmondsworth: Puffin Books, page 115:

Derived terms: box the gnat, Clear Lake gnat, fungus gnat, gall gnat, gnat bug, gnatcatcher, gnateater, gnatless, gnatlike, gnatling, gnatproof, gnat's, gnat's arse, gnat's ass, gnat's chuff, gnat's prick, gnat-strain, gnat-strainer, gnat-straining, gnat's whisker, gnatty, gnatworm, gnatwren, strain at a gnat
Related terms: gnit, midge

Gnat

noun

Etymology From gnat.

Historical A type of jet fighter aircraft.