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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

gecko.

Any lizard in the infraorder Gekkota.

5 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈɡɛk.əʊ/Received-Pronunciation/ˈɡɛk.oʊ/General-American
  1. Any lizard in the infraorder Gekkota.

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

Where this word comes from

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”).

verb/ˈɡɛk.əʊ/Received-Pronunciation/ˈɡɛk.oʊ/General-American
  1. To move in the manner of a gecko; to attach to a vertical or upside-down surface.

    rare
Where this word comes from

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”).

noun/ˈɡɛk.əʊ/Received-Pronunciation/ˈɡɛk.oʊ/General-American
  1. Eggcorn of get-go.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.