midge (mij)

[ mygg, mygga = Pol. Ru . mukha = Bohem. maucha, a fly; prob. lit. 'buzzer' (cf. the similar lit. sense of breezel, a gadfly, and of humblebee ), akin to Gr. μυκᾶσθαι, low; cf. also L. mugire, low (see mugient ), Gr. μύζειν, mutter; an ult. imitative root. The L. musca = Gr. uvia, etc., a fly, is not related: see Musca.] 1. A two-winged fly of the order Diptera and suborder Nemocera; a gnat or some insect resembling one: a popular name applied with little discrimination to many differ ent insects. They chiefly belong to the families Simulii dæ, Tipulidæ, Chironomide, and Culicide. The term is sometimes specifically applied to the Chironomide. The eggs of some of the last-named family, like those of mosquitos and other gnats, are deposited in water, where they undergo metamorphosis, first into larvæ and then into pupæ, in which latter state when ripe they rise to the surface, and the imago or perfect insect emerges. See gnat. 2. Something small of its kind, as the fry of fish; a dwarf; a midget. A very small fish, specifically called Günther's midge and Hypsiptera argentea, oсcas i on ally taken on both the American and European Phycis. coasts, is supposed to be the fry of a codling of the genus 3. A very small one-horse carriage used in the Isle of Wight, England.