gnit

From Middle English gnit, gnitte, from Old English *gnitte (“gnit; gnat”), from Proto-West Germanic *gnittā, from Proto-Germanic *gnittǭ, *gnittō (“gnat; midge”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰneHdʰn-, *gʰneHd- (“to gnaw, scratch”). Cognate with Low German gnid (“gnit”), German Gnitte, Gnitze (“midge, gnat”). Compare also Danish gnid (“gnat”), Swedish gnet (“nit”), Norwegian gnit (“gnat”), Icelandic gnit, nitur (“gnat”). Related to gnat.