A head louse under illumination and magnified. From Middle English lous lows lowse Old English lūs Proto-West Germanic *lūs Proto-Germanic *lūs Proto-Indo-European *lewH-
See also West Frisian lûs Dutch luis German Low German Luus German Laus Welsh llau ( “ lice ” ) , Tocharian B luwo Sanskrit यूका ( yūkā ) .
louse (plural lice or louses
A small parasitic wingless insect of the order Psocodea .
( colloquial , dated , not usually used in plural form) contemptible person ; one who is deceitful or causes harm.
1946 The hard-boiled omnibus: early stories from Black Mask , page 388 :He said: "Thanks, friend; but you're wasting your time. You better warn Crocker. If that louse makes a play for me, he'll get hit with Chicago lightning !" 1949 , Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend It's then that those louses go back to their spouses. Diamonds are a girl's best friend. 1965 Cavalier :[…] as she raised her guitar for the last loud chord, an unseen louse let loose a rubber-tipped arrow that landed right on her dark-skinned forehead.
1983 December 17, “GDMFSOB (personal advertisement)”, in Gay Community News , volume 11 , number 22 , page 17 :After you get finished betraying all your friends, how long do you think it will be before you're all alone? You will age and die all alone. You are attractive but unloving and unlovable. You're the worst louse I have met in a long time. I hope you get what you deserve.
When used as a term of abuse, the plural is typically louses , though lice is also possible.
Informally, it is common to use the plural form lice attributively, e.g. lice check. an insect of the order Psocodea
Abaza: цӏа ( cʼa )
Abkhaz: аҵа ( acʼa )
Acehnese: gutee
Afrikaans: luis
Ainu: キ ( ki ) , ウㇽキ ( urki )
Aklanon: kuto
Albanian: morr (sq)
Andi: ноцӏцӏи ( noccʼi )
Apinayé: gô
Arabic: قَمْلَة f ( qamla ) , ( collective ) قَمْل m ( qaml )
Egyptian Arabic: قمل m ( ʔaml ) ( collective ) , قملة f ( ʔamla ) ( singulative )
Gulf Arabic: قمل m ( gamiḷ ) ( collective ) , قملة f ( gamḷa ) ( singulative )
Hijazi Arabic: قمل m ( gamil ) ( collective ) , قملة f ( gamla ) ( singulative )
Juba Arabic: gomul
Moroccan Arabic: قمل m ( qmal ) ( collective ) , قملة f ( qamla ) ( singulative )
Aramaic :
Classical Syriac: ܩܠܡܐ m ( qalmā )
Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܩܠܡܐ m ( qalmā )
Archi: нацӏ ( nacʼ )
Armenian: ոջիլ (hy) ( oǰil )
Aromanian: piduclju
Assamese: ওকণি ( ükoni )
Asturian: pioyu (ast) m
Avar: нацӏ ( nacʼ )
Aymara: lapʼa
Azerbaijani: bit (az)
Bashkir: бет ( bet )
Basque: zorri
Bats: მაწ ( mac̣ )
Belarusian: вош f ( voš )
Bengali: উকুন (bn) ( ukun )
Bezhta: нацо ( naco )
Biatah Bidayuh: gutis
Bikol Central: kuto (bcl)
Bislama: nakutu
Brahui: بوڈ ( boḍ )
Breton: laou (br) ( collective )
Brunei Malay: kutu
Buginese: utu
Bulgarian: въ́шка (bg) f ( vǎ́ška )
Burmese: သန်း (my) ( san: )
Burushaski: کھرو
Caac: ciic
Canela: incô
Cappadocian Greek: φčείρ ( fčeír )
Carolinian: ghúúw
Carpathian Rusyn: уша f ( uša )
Catalan: poll (ca) m
Cebuano: tuma
Central Melanau: kutou
Chamicuro: nijpa
Chechen: меза ( meza )
Chepang: क्रास् ( body louse ) , स्रय्क् सेक् ( head louse )
Chichewa: nsabwe
Chinese:
Cantonese: 蝨乸 ／ 虱乸 ( sat1 naa2 )
Dungan: сыйзы ( sɨyzɨ )
Mandarin: 蝨子 ／ 虱子 (zh) ( shīzi )
Chuvash: пыйтӑ ( pyjt̬ă )
Czech: veš (cs) f
Dalmatian: pedoclo m
Danish: lus (da) c
Dutch: luis (nl) f
Dyirbal: ( Guwal ) (please verify ) bayi marbu ( Jalnguy ) (please verify ) bayi dimaniny
Eastern Arrernte: arreme
Eastern Kayah: sò
Egyptian: (ktt m ? ⲕⲁⲕⲑⲓ ( kakthi ) ⲕⲁⲕⲧⲓ ( kakti ) ⲭⲁⲕⲑⲓ ( khakthi ) ( Bohairic )
? ⲕⲁⲕⲧⲉ ( kakte ) ⲕⲁⲧⲕⲉ ( katke ) ( Sahidic )
Erzya: сий ( śij )
Esperanto: pediko (eo)
Estonian: täi (et)
Even: кумкэ ( kumkə )
Fala: piollu
Fanagalo: ntwala
Faroese: lús (fo) f
Fijian: kutu (fj)
Finnish: täi (fi)
French: pou (fr) m
Friulian: pedoli
Fwâi: ciik
Galician: piollo (gl) m
Georgian: მკბენარი ( mḳbenari ) , ტილი ( ṭili )
German: Laus (de) f
Gorontalo: utu (gor)
Greek: ψείρα (el) f ( pseíra )
Ancient: φθείρ m ( phtheír )
Guaraní: ky (gn)
Guerrero Amuzgo: kítzkò
Haitian Creole: pou
Hawaiian: ʻuku
Hebrew: כִּנָּה (he) f ( kiná )
Higaonon: tuma
Hindi: जूँ (hi) f ( jū̃ )
Hungarian: tetű (hu)
Hunzib: на̇цǝ ( nåcǝ )
Icelandic: lús (is) f
Ido: lauso (io)
Ilocano: kuto
Imonda: ku
Indonesian: kutu (id)
Ingrian: täi popo ( childish )
Ingush: меза ( meza )
Iranun: kutu
Irish: míol cnis m
Italian: pidocchio (it) m
Japanese: 虱 (ja) ( しらみ, shirami ) , シラミ (ja) ( shirami ) , 寄生虫 (ja) ( きせいちゅう, kiseichū )
Javanese: ꦠꦸꦩ (jv) ( tuma )
Jawe: ciik
Jebero: čimɨŋ
Kabuverdianu: piodju
Kaingang: ga
Kannada: ಹೇನು (kn) ( hēnu )
Kashubian: wesz
Kayapó: ngôre
Kazakh: бит ( bit )
Khinalug: нимцӏ ( nimc̣ )
Khmer: ចៃ (km) ( cay ) , ដង្កែ (km) ( dɑngkae ) , ឩកា (km) ( ʼuukaa )
Khorasani Turkish: بیت
Khumi Chin: ähi
Khvarshi: нуца ( nuca )
Korean: 이 (ko) ( i )
Kumak: chixic
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: ئەسپێ ( espê )
Laki: ئِسپِژ ( ispij ) , شِش (ku) ( şiş )
Northern Kurdish: spih (ku)
Southern Kurdish: سپیە ( sipye )
Kyrgyz: бит (ky) ( bit )
Lak: нацӏ ( nacʼ )
Lakota: hitka la
Lao: ເຫົາ ( hao ) , ເມັນ ( men ) , ໄຮ ( hai )
Latin: pēdis (la) m
Latvian: uts (lv) f
Laz: მტი ( mťi )
Lezgi: нет ( net )
Lingala: sili nsili monsili
Linngithigh: ibhi
Lithuanian: utėlė f
Livonian: tei
Low German:
German Low German: Luus f
Lü: ᦠᧁ ( ḣaw )
Lutshootseed: bəšč'ád
Macedonian: вошка f ( voška )
Madurese: koto
Maguindanao: kutu
Makasar: kutu
Malay: kutu (ms)
Malayalam: പേൻ (ml) ( pēṉ )
Maltese: qamla f
Manchu: ᠴᡳᡥᡝ ( cihe )
Mansaka: koto toma
Maore Comorian: ndra
Maori: kutu
Maranao: tom
Marathi: ऊ f ( ū )
Maxakalí: kut
Megleno-Romanian: piducľu
Mingrelian: ტი ( ṭi )
Mizo: hrik
Moksha: си ( śi )
Mongolian: бөөс (mn) ( böös ) , ᠪᠥᠭᠡᠰᠤ ( bögesu )
Nanai: чиктэ ( čikte )
Navajo: yaaʼ
Neapolitan: perucchio m
Nemi: ciik
Ngazidja Comorian: nɗa
Northern Ohlone: ká̄i
Northern Thai: ᩉᩮᩢᩣ
Norwegian:
Bokmål: lus (no) m or f
Nynorsk: lus f
Occitan: pesolh (oc) m mirgalhon m piu (oc) m peu (oc) m
Odia: ଉକୁଣି ( ukuṇi )
Ojibwe: ikwa ikwag pl
Old Church Slavonic:
Cyrillic: въшь f ( vŭšĭ )
Glagolitic: ⰲⱏⱎⱐ f ( vŭšĭ )
Old East Slavic: въшь f ( vŭšĭ )
Old English: lūs f
Old Norse: lús f
Ossetian: сыст ( syst )
Paicî: i
Panará: kjãnkô
Papiamentu: pieu
Pará Gavião: nkô
Pashto: سپږه (ps) f ( spᶕźa )
Persian: شِپِش (fa) ( šepeš )
Piedmontese: poj m
Pije: ciik
Plautdietsch: Lus (nds) f
Polish: wesz (pl) f
Pontic Greek: φθείρι ( ftheíri )
Portuguese: piolho (pt) m
Punjabi: ਜੂੰ f ( jū̃ )
Pykobjê: aacuu amcuu ẽhncuu
Quechua: usa
Rohingya: 𐴀𐴟𐴙𐴕 ( uin )
Romagnol: bdòcc m
Romani: ʒuv f
Romanian: păduche (ro) m
Russian: вошь (ru) f ( vošʹ ) , вши (ru) f pl ( vši ) , во́шка (ru) f ( vóška )
Sango: sili (sg)
Sanskrit: यूका (sa) f ( yūkā )
Sardinian: peogu piogu piduciu piducru
Scottish Gaelic: mial f
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: ваш f уш f
Roman: vaš (sh) f uš (sh) f vaška (sh) f
Sherpa: ཤིག ( shig )
Shor: пит
Sicilian: pidocchiu m
Slovak: voš (sk) f
Slovene: uš (sl) f
Somali: injir (so)
Sorbian:
Lower Sorbian: weš f
Upper Sorbian: woš (hsb) f
Spanish: piojo (es) m
Sranan Tongo: loso
Sundanese: ᮇᮒᮦᮒ᮪ ( otét )
Svan: ტიშ ( ṭiš )
Swahili: chawa (sw) class 9 /10 sg pl
Swedish: lus (sv) c
Sylheti: ꠃꠇꠂꠘ ( ukoino )
Tabasaran: ницц ( nic̄ )
Tagalog: kuto
Tajik: шабушк (tg) ( šabušk )
Talysh: اسبج ( əsbəj )
Tamil: பேன் (ta) ( pēṉ )
Tanapag: gúú
Taos: phìayána
Tapayuna: ngô
Tarifit: tiššit f
Tat: uşbuj
Tatar: бет (tt) ( bet )
Tausug: kutu
Tedim Chin: hik
Telugu: పేను (te) ( pēnu )
Ternate: gani
Tetum: utu
Thai: เหา (th) ( hǎo ) , โลน (th) ( loon )
Tibetan: ཤིག ( shig )
Tok Pisin: laus
Tsakonian: ψεῖρα ( pseῖra )
Turkish: bit (tr)
Turkmen: bit (tk)
Udi: нецӏ ( nec̣ )
Udmurt: тэй ( tej )
Ukrainian: во́ша f ( vóša )
Urdu: جوں f ( jū̃ )
Uyghur: پىت ( pit )
Uzbek: bit (uz)
Vietnamese: rận (vi) ( body louse ) , chí (vi) , chấy (vi) ( head louse )
Vilamovian: łaojs f
Volapük: puf (vo)
Warlpiri: yaka
Welsh: lleuen (cy) f llau (cy) f pl
Xavante: u
Xerénte: gó
Xhosa: intwala class 9 /10
Yakut: быт ( bıt )
Yámana: wam
Yiddish: לויז f ( loyz )
Yuanga: ciii
Zande: zari
Zazaki: ıspıc c espij c
Zealandic: luus m
Zhuang: naenz
Zulu: intwala class 9 /10
ǃXóõ: ( large ) ʘnó̰õ ( small ) gǁkxʼóni
worthless person
Albanian: qelbanik (sq)
Baluchi: بوڈ
Bulgarian: гад (bg) m or f ( gad )
Chinese:
Mandarin: 寄生虫 (zh) ( jìshēngchǒng )
Dutch: (arme ) luis m
Finnish: luopio (fi) , hylkiö (fi) , epatto (fi)
French: salaud (fr) m salaude (fr) f salop (fr) m salope (fr) f salopard (fr) m saloparde f
Galician: piollo famento m
German: Dreckskerl (de) m Dreckkerl m Lumpenhund m Lumpenkerl (de) m
Greek: κοπρόσκυλον n ( kopróskylon ) , ασυνείδητος (el) m ( asyneíditos )
Macedonian: гнида f ( gnida ) , вошкар m ( voškar ) , гад m ( gad )
Polish: gnida (pl) f menda (pl) f
Portuguese: piolho (pt) m sem-vergonha (pt) m or f canalha (pt) m or f
Romanian: păduche (ro) m
Russian: гни́да (ru) m or f ( gnída ) , гад (ru) m or f ( gad ) , га́дская кровь m or f ( gádskaja krovʹ )
Slovak: všivák (sk) m všivavec m
Slovene: ušivec m gnida f ( highly pejorative )
Spanish: sinvergüenza (es) m or f canalla (es) m or f
Swahili: chawa (sw)
Swedish: skitstövel (sv) , usling (sv)
Telugu: పనికిమాలిన వ్యక్తి ( panikimālina vyakti )
Turkish: aşağılık kimse
louse (third-person singular simple present louses present participle lousing simple past and past participle loused
To remove lice from; to delouse .
1938 Age of Consent , 1st Australian edition, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith , published 1962 , →OCLC 108 :There were a few wire-netted enclosures to keep young chickens from the hawks, but the fowls wandered at large, coming about the hut to ruffle their feathers in the dust, and louse themselves, and pick up scraps.
louse
inflection of lousar
first / third-person singular present subjunctive third-person singular imperative louse
Alternative form of lous 
