ˈkyüˌleks noun
Usage: capitalized
Etymology: New Latin, from Latin, gnat; akin to Old Irish cuil gnat and probably to Sanskrit śūla spit, spear, sharp pain, Latin cuneus wedge
: a large cosmopolitan genus of mosquitoes that includes the common house mosquito ( C. pipiens ) of Europe and No. America, a widespread tropical mosquito ( C. quinquefasciatus or C. fatigans ) which transmits certain filarial worms parasitic in man, and other mosquitoes which have been implicated as vectors of virus encephalitides and possibly of other diseases of man and animals — compare anopheles