gecko

Meanings

Noun

• Any lizard of the family Gekkonidae. They are small, carnivorous, mostly nocturnal animals with large eyes and adhesive toes enabling them to climb on vertical and upside-down surfaces.
• Misspelling of get-go

Verb

• To move in the manner of a gecko; to attach to a vertical or upside-down surface.

Related

Narrower meaning words

• bent-toed gecko (Cyrtopodion (genus) spp. and Cyrtodactylus (genus) spp.)
• Bibron's gecko (Chondrodactylus bibronii (species))
• common house gecko (Hemidactylus frenatus)
• crested gecko (Correlophus ciliatus (species))
• crocodile gecko (Tarentola mauritanica (species))
• dwarf gecko (Sphaerodactylus (genus) spp.)
• flying gecko (Ptychozoon (genus) spp.)
• gold dust day gecko (Phelsuma laticauda (species))
• Indo-Pacific gecko (Hemidactylus garnotii (species))
• leaf-tailed gecko (Saltaurius eximus (species))
• leopard gecko (Eublepharis macularius (species))
• Mediterranean house gecko (Hemidactylus turcicus (species))
• Moorish gecko (Tarentola mauritanica (species))
• mourning gecko (Lepidodactylus lugubris (species))
• New Caledonian giant gecko (Rhacodactylus leachianus (species))
• parachute gecko (Ptychozoon (genus) spp.)
• stump-toed gecko (Gehyra mutilata (species))
• tokay gecko (Gekko gecko (species))
• tropical house gecko (Hemidactylus mabouia (species))
• web-footed gecko (Palmatogecko rangei (species))
• western banded gecko (Coleonyx variegatus (species))

Origin

• The modern form was probably borrowed into English and other European languages from Dutch gekko (1718). Contemporary English forms were chacco (1711) and jackoa (1724). The further origin is not quite clear. Some sources mention a supposed Malay gekok, gekoq, or gekop, which would be imitative of the gecko’s chirping sound. Another theory derives it from Acehnese gèh-gòh ("busy").