Hĕs'sian1, a.
(hĕsh'an), a. (Geog.) Of, or relating to, Hesse, in Germany.
Hessian fly (Entom.), a small, two-winged fly, or midge, nearly black, very destructive to young wheat;—so called from the opinion that it was brought into America by the Hessian troops, during the Revolution. It is the Cecidomyia destructor of Say.
