midge

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a very small two-winged fly, including both biting and non-biting kinds

   A cloud of midge insects hovered above the damp grass at dusk.

2. 2
   noun

   informal or dated: a very small, short, or seemingly insignificant person

   He dismissed the young governess as a mere midge, then discovered her resolve.

3. 3
   noun

   an artificial fishing fly made to resemble a midge

   The angler tied a tiny black midge to the end of the line.

From Middle English mydge or migge, from Old English mygg, ultimately from a Proto-Indo-European base associated with flies. The figurative sense for a small person helped produce midget with the diminutive suffix -et; midge was later sometimes reinterpreted as its clipping.

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