head louse

noun

head louse

noun

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

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

Related terms: nit

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.