Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Parasite
Par′a-site
(păr′ȧ-sīt)
, Noun.
[F., fr. L.
parasitus
, Gr. παράσιτος
, lit., eating beside, or at the table of, another; παρά
beside + σιτεῖν
to feed, from σιτοσ
wheat, grain, food.] 1.
One who frequents the tables of the rich, or who lives at another’s expense, and earns his welcome by flattery; a hanger-on; a toady; a sycophant.
Thou, with trembling fear,
Or like a fawning
Or like a fawning
parasite
, obey'st. Milton.
Parasites
were called such smell-feasts as would seek to be free guests at rich men's tables. Udall.
2.
(Bot.)
(a)
A plant obtaining nourishment immediately from other plants to which it attaches itself, and whose juices it absorbs; – sometimes, but erroneously, called epiphyte.
(b)
A plant living on or within an animal, and supported at its expense, as many species of fungi of the genus
Torrubia
. 3.
(Zool.)
(a)
An animal which lives during the whole or part of its existence on or in the body of some other animal, feeding upon its food, blood, or tissues, as lice, tapeworms, etc.
(b)
An animal which steals the food of another, as the parasitic jager.
(c)
An animal which habitually uses the nest of another, as the cowbird and the European cuckoo.
Webster 1828 Edition
Parasite
PAR'ASITE
,Noun.
1.
In ancient Greece, a priest or minister of the gods whose office was to gather of the husbandman the corn allotted for public sacrifices. The parasites also superintended the sacrifices.2.
In modern usage, a trencher friend; one that frequents the tables of the rich and earns his welcome by flattery; a hanger on; a fawning flatterer.3.
In botany,a plant growing on the stem or branch of another plant and receiving its nourishment from it, as the mistletoe.Definition 2024
parasite
parasite
See also: parasité
English
Noun
parasite (plural parasites)
- (pejorative) A person who lives on other people's efforts or expense and gives little or nothing back. [from 16th c.]
- (biology) an organism that lives on or in another organism, deriving benefit from living on or in that other organism, while not contributing towards that other organism sufficiently to cover the cost to that other organism.
- 2013 March 1, Harold J. Morowitz, “The Smallest Cell”, in 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.
-
- (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.
- 1813, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Queen Mab, I:
Antonyms
Related terms
Related terms
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Translations
useless person who always relies on other people's work and gives nothing back
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(generally undesirable) living organism that exists by stealing resources from another living organism
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See also
References
- “parasite” in Douglas Harper, Online Etymology Dictionary (2001).
Anagrams
French
Pronunciation
- Homophones: parasitent, parasites
Verb
parasite
- first-person singular present indicative of parasiter
- third-person singular present indicative of parasiter
- first-person singular present subjunctive of parasiter
- third-person singular present subjunctive of parasiter
- second-person singular imperative of parasiter
Spanish
Verb
parasite
- First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of parasitar.
- Formal second-person singular (usted) present subjunctive form of parasitar.
- Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted?) present subjunctive form of parasitar.
- Formal second-person singular (usted) imperative form of parasitar.