Dictionary

parasitism en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈpæɹəs(a)ɪˌtɪzm̩/
• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

From parasite + -ism. Cognate with French parasitisme and Portuguese and Spanish parasitismo.

Meanings

1. (uncountable, usually) Interaction between two organisms, in which one organism (the parasite) benefits and the other (the host) is harmed.
2. (figuratively, uncountable, usually) A similar interaction between people or things.
   • Either theſe men imagine themſelves to be marvelouſly high ſet and exalted in the chair of Belfaſt, to vouchſafe the parliament of England no better ſtile than Servants, or elſe their high notion, which we rather believe, falls as low as court paraſitiſm ; ſuppoſing all men to be ſervants, but the king. a. 1674, “Observations upon the Articles of Peace with the Iriſh Rebels”, in The Works of John Milton, Hiſtorical, Political, and Miſcellaneous, volume 1, London: A. Millar, published 1753, page 399:
   • These devices' energy consumption is parasitism upon the electrical grid.
   • We accused her of parasitism in taking his hard-earned money for new dresses.

Forms

Deriveds

mycoparasitism · autoparasitism · alloparasitism · kleptoparasitism · endoparasitism · nonparasitism · ectoparasitism · adelphoparasitism · monoparasitism · xenoparasitism · superparasitism · pseudoparasitism · self-parasitism · multiparasitism · epiparasitism · hyperparasitism · holoparasitism · brood parasitism · polyparasitism

Translations (21)

gl parasitismo (interaction between two organisms) · kk паразитизм (interaction between two organisms) · pt parasitismo (interaction between two organisms) · de Parasitentum (interaction between two organisms) · de Schmarotzertum (interaction between two organisms) · vi ký sinh trùng (interaction between two organisms) · vi sự ký sinh (interaction between two organisms) · ro parazitism (interaction between two organisms) · cmn 寄生 (interaction between two organisms) · de Parasitismus (interaction between two organisms) · cs parazitismus (interaction between two organisms) · el παρασιτισμός (interaction between two organisms) · es parasitismo (interaction between two organisms) · it parassitismo (interaction between two organisms) · ca parasitisme (interaction between two organisms) · eo parazitismo (interaction between two organisms) · id parasitisme (interaction between two organisms) · cs cizopasnictví (interaction between two organisms) · hi परजीविता (interaction between two organisms) · pl pasożytnictwo (interaction between two organisms) · fr parasitisme (interaction between two organisms)