housefly

Etymology

From house + fly. Cognate with Dutch huisvlieg (“housefly”), Danish husflue (“housefly”), Swedish husfluga (“housefly”), Faroese húsfluga (“housefly”).

noun

  1. Any fly regularly found in human dwellings.
  2. Any fly regularly found in human dwellings.; The common housefly, Musca domestica, that frequents most homes and spreads some diseases.“Of the three potential means (carriage on the body and legs, regurgitation and defecation) by which houseflies can transmit pathogens, one involves passage through the gut. During passage through the housefly, pathogens may replicate within the gut.”