mossie

Etymology 1

From Afrikaans, from Dutch mus (“a sparrow”).

noun

1. (South Africa) Any of various species of sparrow, especially Passer melanurus.
   Our four baby mossies have left the nest. 1963, Lady Joy Petersen Packer, Home from Sea, page 221
   Another highly successful species, which has become a serious pest of fruit, is the Mossie or Cape Sparrow. The male mossie, with his black and white head and rufous mantle, is rather a handsome little bird; his wife lacks the head markings, being grey-brown with a pale eye-stripe. 1969, J. M. Winterbottom, Cornelis Janse Uys, Some Birds of the Cape, page 93
   He laughs a deep laugh that rumbles up from somewhere in his drumskin stomach. It spooks the mossies on the overhead telegraph wire. 2004, Troy Blacklaws, Karoo Boy, page 78

Etymology 2

Diminutive formed from mosquito. Compare Dutch meuzie (“mosquito”).

noun

1. (UK, Australia, New Zealand, colloquial) A mosquito.
   She came out, standing a head taller than him, tugging a loose cotton shift into place, and made for a rough brick fireplace beside a pile of rusting pots and pans. ‘Come inside,’ Willi said. ‘The mossies will eat you alive out here.’ 1996, Patricia Shaw, The Opal Seekers, unnumbered page
   Tip 1 : Make sure there is clearance between your body and the net. If the net touches your skin, the mossie will be able to bite you through it. 2003, Jack Lagan, A B Sea: A Loose-Footed Lexicon, page 211
   He had becoms full of Bay intelligence about mosquito repellent measures. Apart from the obvious—mossie coils, citronella candles, zappers, fine nets suspended over beds and Rid roll-on or spray—he decided to invest in bush gear from an army disposal store. The mossies, who know a city slicker when they bite one, had been stinging clear through his Calvin Clone T-shirts from the Hong Kong markets and feasting on his bare arms as if presented with a juicy buffet. 2012, Susan Kurosawa, Coasting: A Year by the Bay, unnumbered page