mosca

See also: Mosca, mósca, mòsca, and moscá

Aragonese

Etymology

From Latin musca.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmoska/
• Syllabification: mos‧ca
• Rhymes: -oska

Noun

mosca f (plural moscas)

1. fly (insect)

References

• Bal Palazios, Santiago (2002), “mosca”, in Dizionario breu de a luenga aragonesa, Zaragoza, →ISBN

Asturian

Etymology

From Latin musca.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmoska/ [ˈmos.ka]
• Rhymes: -oska
• Syllabification: mos‧ca

Noun

mosca f (plural mosques)

1. fly (insect)

Further reading

• García Arias, Xosé Lluis (2002–2004), “mosca”, in Diccionario general de la lengua asturiana [General Dictionary of the Asturian Language] (overall work in Spanish), Editorial Prensa Asturiana, →ISBN
• “mosca”, in Diccionariu de la llingua asturiana [Dictionary of the Asturian Language] (in Asturian), 1st edition, Academy of the Asturian Language [Asturian: Academia de la Llingua Asturiana], 2000, →ISBN

Catalan

mosca

Etymology

Inherited from Old Catalan mosca, from Latin musca, from Proto-Indo-European *mus-.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern) [ˈmus.kə]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic, Central) [ˈmos.kə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia, Northwestern) [ˈmos.ka]

• Audio (Valencia):

  (file)

Noun

mosca f (plural mosques)

1. fly (insect)

Related terms

• mosca blanca
• mosca de l'api
• mosca del vinagre
• mosca negra
• mosca verda
• mosca vironera
• moscallejar
• moscalló
• moscam
• moscard
• moscarda
• mosquejar
• mosquer
• mosquera
• mosquit

Further reading

• “mosca”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “mosca”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “mosca” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “mosca”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)

Fala

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese mosca, from Latin musca.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmoska/
• Rhymes: -oska
• Syllabification: mos‧ca

Noun

mosca f (plural moscas)

1. fly (insect)

References

• Valeš, Miroslav (2021), Diccionariu de A Fala: lagarteiru, mañegu, valverdeñu (web)‎^[1], 2nd edition, Minde, Portugal: CIDLeS, published 2022, →ISBN

Galician

Etymology 1

From Old Galician-Portuguese mosca, from Latin musca.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmoska/ [ˈmos̺.kɐ]
• Rhymes: -oska
• Hyphenation: mos‧ca

Noun

mosca f (plural moscas)

1. fly (insect)
2. (television) digital on-screen graphic

Derived terms

• mosca beira
• mosca caíña
• mosca caira
• moscar
• moscardo
• Moscosas
• Moscoso
• mosquear
• mosqueira
• mosqueiro
• Mosqueiro
• Mosqueiros
• mosquitar
• mosquito
• Pena Moscosa

References

• “mosca”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2026
• “mosca”, in Dicionário Estraviz de galego (in Galician), 2014–2026
• Seoane, Ernesto Xosé González; Granja, María Álvarez de la; Agrelo, Ana Isabel Boullón (2006–2022), “mosca”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval [Dictionary of dictionaries of Medieval Galician] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Barreiro, Xavier Varela; Guinovart, Xavier Gómez (2006–2018), “mosca”, in Corpus Xelmírez: corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval [Corpus Xelmírez: linguistic corpus of Medieval Galicia] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “mosca”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “mosca”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “mosca”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

Etymology 2

Verb

mosca

1. inflection of moscar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Italian

Etymology

From Latin musca, from Proto-Indo-European *mus-. Compare Spanish mosca.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmos.ka/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -oska
• Hyphenation: mó‧sca

Noun

mosca f (plural mosche, diminutive moschétta or moschìna or moschìno m or moschettìna, augmentative (uncommon) moscóna, pejorative moscàccia)

1. fly (insect)
   • 13^th century, “De’ Funghi [Of Mushrooms]”, in Trattato dell'agricoltura [Treatise On Agriculture]‎^[2], translation of Opus ruralium commodorum libri XII by Pietro De' Crescenzi, published 1605, page 326:

     […] quello è mortale, che tosto uccide, e chiamasi il fungo delle mosche, imperocchè, polverizzato in latte, uccide le mosche.

     That one is deadly, which kills at once, and it is called the "mushroom of the flies", because, if ground in milk, it kills flies.

   • 1300s–1310s, Dante Alighieri, “Canto XVII”, in Inferno [Hell], lines 49–51; republished as Giorgio Petrocchi, editor, La Commedia secondo l'antica vulgata [The Commedia according to the ancient vulgate], 2^nd revised edition, Florence: publ. Le Lettere, 1994:

     non altrimenti fan di state i cani
     or col ceffo or col piè, quando son morsi
     o da pulci o da mosche o da tafani

     Not unlike how dogs do during the summer, with the head or the leg, when they're bitten by fleas or flies or horseflies

   • 1668, Francesco Redi, Esperienze intorno alla generazione degl’insetti [Experiences About the Generation of Insects]‎^[3], Florence, page 137:

     e pure io ho vedute le mosche partorir le loro uova ed i loro vermi nel timo, e da que’ vermi nascerne le mosche

     And yet, I've seen flies laying their eggs, and their larvae, amidst thyme, and flies being born from those larvae

2. (by extension, figurative):
   1. (fishing) fly (lure)
      • 1833, Nuovo dizionario universale tecnologico o di arti e mestieri - Tomo Ⅷ [New universal technological dictionary, or of arts and crafts - Volume 8], Venice: Giuseppe Antonelli ed., Mosca, page 461:

        Nell’arte della pesca, diconsi mosche certi insetti fittizi fatti alla buona per servire d’esca ai pesci.

        In the art of fishing, flies are a kind of improvised fake insects, made to serve as a lure for fish.

      • 1981, Carlo Cotta Ramusino, “Capitolo Ⅶ - Tecnica di lancio [Chapter 7 - Throwing technique]”, in Pesca a mosca: canne, lenze, mulinelli, setali, mosche, lanci da pesca e da gara‎^[4], page 195:

        Premetto che se volete imparare a lanciare, non dovete pretendere di andare vicino all’acqua, montare la canna, attaccare la mosca e mettervi a pescare.

        I have to preface that, if you wish to learn to throw [the line], you mustn't expect to just go near water, assemble the rod, attach the fly, and start fishing.

   2. (historical, cosmetics) beauty spot
   3. soul patch (narrow beard)
   4. (in the plural) Black spots on a horse's coat.
   5. (bartending slang) a roasted coffee bean sometimes served with sambuca
3. (foundry) a small ball of plastic material used to verify the thickness of the various parts of a mold
4. (nautical, historical) aviso, advice boat

   Synonym: avviso

Derived terms

• moscaio
• moscaiola
• moscerino
• moscone
• occhio di mosca

Noun

mosca m (invariable)

1. (martial arts) ellipsis of peso mosca (“a flyweight-class fighter”).

Further reading

• mosca in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

Leonese

Etymology

From Latin musca.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmoska/, [ˈmos.ka]

Noun

mosca f (plural moscas)

1. fly (insect)

References

• “mosca”, in Diccionario Castellano-Leonés / Leonés-Castellano [Spanish-Leonese / Leonese-Spanish Dictionary] (in Spanish), La Asociación L'Alderique, 2012–2026

Neapolitan

Etymology

From Latin musca.

Pronunciation

• (Naples) IPA^(key): [ˈmoʃk]
• Hyphenation: mo‧sca

Noun

mosca f (plural mosce)

1. fly (insect)

References

• Giacco, Giuseppe (2003), “mosca”, in Schedario Napoletano
• AIS: Sprach- und Sachatlas Italiens und der Südschweiz [Linguistic and Ethnographic Atlas of Italy and Southern Switzerland] – map 477: “la mosca” – on navigais-web.pd.istc.cnr.it

Occitan

Alternative forms

• moscha

Etymology

From Old Occitan mosca, from Latin musca.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈmus.kɔ]
• (Niçard) IPA^(key): [ˈmus.ka]

• Audio (Béarn):

  (file)

Noun

mosca f (plural moscas)

1. fly (insect)

Old Galician-Portuguese

Etymology

Inherited from Latin musca.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmoska/
• Rhymes: -oska
• Hyphenation: mos‧ca

Noun

mosca f (plural moscas)

1. fly (any insect of the order Diptera)

Descendants

• Fala: mosca
• Galician: mosca
• Portuguese: mosca

References

• Ferreiro, Manuel (2014–2026), “mosca”, in Universo Cantigas: edición crítica da poesía medieval galego-portuguesa [Universo Cantigas: critical edition of Galician-Portuguese medieval poetry] (in Galician), A Coruña: University of A Coruña, →ISSN
• Seoane, Ernesto Xosé González; Granja, María Álvarez de la; Agrelo, Ana Isabel Boullón (2006–2022), “mosca”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval [Dictionary of dictionaries of Medieval Galician] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Barreiro, Xavier Varela; Guinovart, Xavier Gómez (2006–2018), “mosca”, in Corpus Xelmírez: corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval [Corpus Xelmírez: linguistic corpus of Medieval Galicia] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega

Old Spanish

Etymology

From Latin muscam, accusative of musca.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmoska/

Noun

mosca f (plural moscas)

1. fly (any insect of the order Diptera)
   • c. 1250, Alfonso X, Lapidario, f. 31v:

     Et ſi tomaren cinco moſcas o ſiete ⁊ les tollieren las cabeças ⁊ las machucaren con eſta piedra. ⁊ las puſieren ſobre la ferida dela bieſpa, ſana luego ⁊ faz perder la dolor.

     And if the took five flies, or seven, and they took their heads and crushed them with this stone, and they put them on a wasp sting, it would then heal it and alleviate the pain.

Related terms

• mosquito (“mosquito”)

Descendants

• Ladino: moshka (Latin spelling), מושקה (Hebrew spelling)
• Spanish: mosca

Portuguese

mosca (etymology 1, noun sense 1)

Etymology 1

From Old Galician-Portuguese mosca, from Latin musca, from Proto-Indo-European *mus-.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈmos.kɐ/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈmos.kɐ/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /ˈmoʃ.kɐ/
  • (Gaúcho) IPA^(key): /ˈmos.ka/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈmoʃ.kɐ/

• Rhymes: (Brazil) -oskɐ, (Portugal) -oʃkɐ
• Hyphenation: mos‧ca

Noun

mosca f (plural moscas)

2. fly (various insects in the order Diptera)
3. soul patch (narrow beard)
4. bullseye (centre of a target)
5. (colloquial) an annoying person

Usage notes

• Unlike English fly, which can be any dipterid, mosca has a narrower sense and usually refers to the insects in the suborder Brachycera, while the ones in Nematocera are known as mosquitos.

Derived terms

• amanita mata-moscas
• às moscas
• comer mosca
• dar mosca
• mata-moscas
• mosca azul
• mosca doméstica
• mosca volante
• mosca-das-frutas
• mosca-de-banheiro
• mosca-varejeira
• moscão
• moscar
• moscaria
• mosquedo
• mosqueiro
• mosquinha
• na mosca
• papa-moscas
• pé de mosca
• peso mosca

Related terms

• moscaréu
• mosquito
• muscívoro

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈmɔs.kɐ/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈmɔs.kɐ/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /ˈmɔʃ.kɐ/
  • (Gaúcho) IPA^(key): /ˈmɔs.ka/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈmɔʃ.kɐ/

• Rhymes: -ɔskɐ
• Hyphenation: mos‧ca

Verb

mosca

1. inflection of moscar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

• “mosca”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “mosca”, in Dicio – Dicionário Online de Português (in Portuguese), São Paulo: 7Graus, 2009–2026
• “mosca”, in Dicionário inFormal (in Portuguese), 2006–2026
• “mosca”, in Dicionário Infopédia da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2026
• “mosca”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmoska/ [ˈmos.ka]

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -oska
• Syllabification: mos‧ca

Etymology 1

Inherited from Old Spanish mosca, from Latin musca, from Proto-Indo-European *mus-. Compare English midge.

Noun

mosca f (plural moscas)

1. fly (any insect of the order Diptera)
2. (boxing) fly (boxing class)
3. (television) digital on-screen graphic

Derived terms

• ala de mosca
• alguacil de moscas
• amoscar
• atrapamoscas
• caer como moscas
• en boca cerrada no entran moscas
• matamoscas
• mosca de burro
• mosca de la carne
• mosca de la fruta
• mosca de Milán
• mosca del vinagre
• mosca muerta
• mosca panteonera
• mosca soldado
• moscarda
• moscardón
• mosco
• moscón
• mosquito
• orquídea mosca
• papamoscas
• por si las moscas
• publimosca
• puñado de moscas
• qué mosca te ha picado

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

mosca

1. inflection of moscar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

• “mosca”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025
• “mosca”, in Diccionario de americanismos [Dictionary of Americanisms] (in Spanish), Association of Academies of the Spanish Language [Spanish: Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española], 2010
• DiPerú | Diccionario de peruanismos en línea