Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

chigoe

/ˈt͡ʃɪ.ɡoʊ/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English

Syllables
chi-goe
IPA
/ˈt͡ʃɪ.ɡoʊ/
12
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A small tropical flea, Tunga penetrans, whose females burrow under the skin of animals, including humans, and lay their eggs, causing strong irritation and sores.

Etymology

Uncertain. Possibly from a Cariban language term such as Kari'na siko (“chigoe”) (early recorded variant chico), from Proto-Cariban *tikô, or else a West African borrowing such as Wolof or Yoruba jiga (“insect”). The eighteenth century historian Charlevoix refers to them as chique in his 1730 history of Hispaniola.

Word Breakdown

  • Root: -, siko, *tikô

Inflected Forms

chigoes (plural)

Phrases

chigoe flea

Synonyms

chegoe chegre chigger chigre chique djigga jigger chigoe flea

Questions

How do you pronounce chigoe?
The recorded pronunciation is /ˈt͡ʃɪ.ɡoʊ/.
What does chigoe mean?
A small tropical flea, Tunga penetrans, whose females burrow under the skin of animals, including humans, and lay their eggs, causing strong irritation and sores.
Where does chigoe come from?
Uncertain. Possibly from a Cariban language term such as Kari'na siko (“chigoe”) (early recorded variant chico), from Proto-Cariban *tikô, or else a West African borrowing such as Wolof or Yoruba jiga (“insect”). The eighteenth century historian Charlevoix refers to them as chique in his 1730 history of Hispaniola.

How to pronounce chigoe

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “chigoe”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈt͡ʃɪ.ɡoʊ/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “chigoe”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “chigoe” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.