parasite

English

Wikipedia

Etymology

From Latin parasitus, from Ancient Greek παράσιτος (parasitos, “person who eats at the table of another”), from noun use of adjective meaning "feeding beside", from παρά (para, “beside”) + σῖτος (sitos, “food”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /ˈpaɹəsʌɪt/
• (US) IPA: /ˈpæɹəˌsaɪt/

Noun

parasite (plural parasites)

1. (pejorative) A person who lives on other people's efforts or expense and gives little back. [from 16th c.]
2. (biology) A (generally undesirable) living organism that exists by stealing the resources produced/collected by another living organism. [from 18th c.]
   • 2013 March 1, Harold J. Morowitz, “The Smallest Cell”, American Scientist, volume 101, number 2, page 83: 

     It is likely that the long evolutionary trajectory of Mycoplasma went from a reductive autotroph to oxidative heterotroph to a cell-wall–defective degenerate parasite. This evolutionary trajectory assumes the simplicity to complexity route of biogenesis, a point of view that is not universally accepted.

   Lice, fleas, ticks and mites are widely spread parasites.

3. (literary, poetic) A climbing plant which is supported by a wall, trellis etc. [from 19th c.]
   • 1813, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Queen Mab, I:

     Her golden tresses shade / The bosom’s stainless pride, / Curling like tendrils of the parasite / Around a marble column.

Antonyms

• commensal (doing no noticeable harm)
• mutualist or sometimes symbiote (beneficial)

Related terms

• parasitise, parasitize
• parasitic, parasitical
• parasiticide
• parasitism
• parasitology
• parasite drag

Translations

useless person who always relies on other people's work and gives nothing back

• Armenian: պորտաբույծ (hy) (portabuyç), ձրիակեր (hy) (jriaker)
• Asturian: parásitu (ast) m
• Catalan: paràsit (ca) m
• Czech: parazit (cs) m
• Dutch: parasiet (nl) m and f, profiteur (nl) m
• French: parasite (fr) m, profiteur (fr) m
• Galician: parásito (gl) m
• Greek: παράσιτο (el) (parásito) n
• Hebrew: פרזיט (he) (parazít) m
• Hungarian: élősködő (hu), parazita (hu)
• Icelandic: sníkjudýr (is) n, afæta (is) f
• Italian: parassita (it) m

• Kurdish:

  Sorani: هیچوپووچ (ku)

• Maori: parakūkā (mi)
• Polish: pasożyt (pl) m
• Portuguese: parasita (pt) m and f
• Romanian: parazit (ro) m, parazită (ro) f
• Russian: паразит (ru) (parazít) m, нахлебник (ru) (naxlébnik) m, тунеядец (ru) (tunejádec) m, приживал (ru) (priživál) m
• Serbo-Croatian: gotovan (sh) m, gotovanka (sh) f, námetnīk (sh) m, paràzīt (sh) m
• Spanish: parásito (es) m
• Swedish: parasit (sv) c

(generally undesirable) living organism that exists by stealing resources from another living organism

• Arabic: طفيل (ar) (tufiil) m
• Asturian: parásitu (ast) m
• Bengali: পরজীবী (bn) (pôrôjibi)
• Catalan: paràsit (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 寄生物 (cmn) (jìshēngwù), 寄生蟲 (cmn), 寄生虫 (cmn) (jìshēngchóng)

• Czech: cizopasník (cs) m, parazit (cs) m
• Dutch: parasiet (nl) m and f
• Esperanto: parazito (eo)
• French: parasite (fr) m
• Galician: parásito (gl) m
• German: Schmarotzer (de) m, Parasit (de) m
• Greek: παράσιτο (el) (parásito) n
• Hebrew: טפיל (he) (tapil) m
• Hungarian: élősködő (hu), parazita (hu)
• Icelandic: sníkill (is) m, sníkjudýr (is) n

• Ido: parazito (io)
• Italian: parassita (it) m
• Japanese: 寄生虫 (ja) (きせいちゅう, kiseichū)
• Kurdish:

  Sorani: چڵکاوخۆر (ku)

• Malay: parasit (ms)
• Maori: pirinoa (mi)
• Polish: pasożyt (pl) m
• Portuguese: parasita (pt) m and f
• Romanian: parazit (ro) m
• Russian: паразит (ru) (parazít) m
• Serbo-Croatian: námetnīk (sh) m, paràzīt (sh) m
• Spanish: parásito (es) m
• Swedish: parasit (sv) c

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

• Afrikaans: parasiet
• Mandarin: 寄生生物 (jì shēng shēng wù)

• German: Parasit m
• Latin: parasitus m

See also

• symbiont

References

• “parasite” in Douglas Harper, Online Etymology Dictionary (2001).

Anagrams

• aspirate, pastiera

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Latin

Noun

parasīte

1. vocative singular of parasītus