Actually, it is a diminutive for "mosco", which comes from "mosca". No Spanish speaker I know of (myself included) has trouble understanding mosquito as little fly.
Yes, mosquito it is a dimitive for "mosco", that comes from latin "musca". Sharing a latin root doesn't make them mean the same.
If you understand mosquito as "little fly", then how do you call actual mosquitos? Im from spain. I can assure you no one here will take the word mosquito for other than the blood sucker insect.
Don't say you are wrong, probably this is about diferent spanish usage since it varies from country to country and even more from continent to continent.
Sorry, but this has nothing to do with our dialects.
You were contending that the etymology of "mosquito" can't be understood as Spanish for "little fly", which is untrue. See, "fly" is not a biological term, but a colloquial one, and describes a wide range of species (suborders, actually). So "mosquito", which originally was meant in Spanish as "pequeño mosco", could perfectly be translated as "little fly", for "mosco" is a type of "fly" and can be translated as such (as is the case of "moscón", "moscarda", "moscardón"...)
> if you understand mosquito as "little fly", then how do you call actual mosquitos?
"Mosquitos". Because context. Just as I can know "bolsillo" means "pequeño bolso" (small bag) and cigarrillo means "pequeño cigarro" (small cigar), and simultaneously understand them as the envelope-like receptacle in clothing (pocket) and paper wrapped processed tobacco (cigarette), respectively.
There is no definition there stating that a mosquito is a small fly, (hint: derived diminutives don't make it into the rae dictionary). What you can see there is that the etymology is indeed from the diminutive of mosco. I never denied that, it's on my original post, they share latin root. Again, that doesn't make them mean the same.
You examples are so weird I highly doubt you are a native spanish speaker. Bolsillo is never used for a small bag, at least here, and cigarrillo is never used as cigar, but as cigarrete.
There's no need for a dictionary definition. Just as you just said, diminutives don't normally make it into the dictionary. So, "suelecillo" is a word for "suelo pequeño" whether or not it's included in the dictionary, whether or not you use it regularly. But the reverse is also true. "Bolsillo" is a "small bag", whether or not it has developed a specific meaning that grants it a separate definition in the dictionary.
And whether or not you use it regularly with the original meaning. The frequency of usage does not invalidate this truth: the rules of diminutive formation entail that "bolsillo" is "bolso pequeño". There's no arguing this statement. Just as "mosquito" is "mosco pequeño", i.e. "small fly".
The same can be said for plenty of other words. Words that have developed a specific separate meaning but are still diminutives for the non-affixed original word. Meet polysemy.
Sorry, but "cochinilla" is still "cochina pequeña", "cabezón" is still "cabeza grande", "cabecilla" is still "cabeza pequeña", and "frailecillo" is still "pequeño fraile".
It would be mistaken and a bit obtuse to nitpick on an article which states that "cabecilla" is Spanish for "small head" by contending that no, it means "leader".
Don't say you are wrong, probably this is about diferent spanish usage since it varies from country to country and even more from continent to continent.
Daily language use is a very different thing to etymology.
Let me give you an example:
I'm learning Polish as a second language, and I love, love, love the Polish word for whale: wieloryb.
Why?
It's a contraction of the words for great/large and fish: wielki + ryba = wieloryb. Isn't that cute?
No Pole in their right mind thinks of "great fish" when you say "whale;" that's clearly nonsense.
And yet despite this, the history of the word remains.
Spain. I have a colombiano friend and I've heard zancudo often, but not mosco. Never mind, I'm going to use mosco exclusively from now on to annoy fellow spaniards, it's catchy :-)
