Standard Lemma guide

epiphyte

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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  • /ˈɛpɪfɑɪt/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A plant that grows on another, using it for physical support but obtaining no nutrients from it and neither causing damage nor offering benefit.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: biology, botany, natural-sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: air plant

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: epibiont, plant, organism

2

noun

Meaning 2

A fungus that grows on a plant but does not feed upon it saprotrophically (an epiphytic fungus). (The science of detecting and studying any such symbiosis as may be involved in this relationship is still developing.)

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: biology, natural-sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: epibiont, fungus, organism

3

noun

Meaning 3

plant that derives moisture and nutrients from the air and rain; usually grows on another plant but not parasitic on it

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: air plant, aerophyte, epiphytic plant

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: plant, flora, plant life

Narrower terms: waxflower, Clusia insignis, Spanish moss, old man's beard, black moss, long moss, Tillandsia usneoides, aeschynanthus, hemiepiphyte, semiepiphyte, strangler, strangler tree

History

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ἐπιφύτον (epiphúton, “one [plant] that grows upon another plant”), from ἐπί (epí, “on top of”) + φυτόν (phutón, “plant”), via epi- (“above, over”) + -phyte (“plant”).

Across languages

Translations

22 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: epífit — plant that grows on another
  • Chinese Mandarin: 氣生植物 /气生植物 (qìshēng zhíwù) — plant that grows on another
  • Danish: epifyt — plant that grows on another
  • Dutch: epifyt — plant that grows on another
  • Finnish: päällyskasvi — plant that grows on another
  • Finnish: epifyytti — plant that grows on another
  • French: épiphyte — plant that grows on another
  • German: Aufsitzerpflanze — plant that grows on another
  • German: Epiphyt — plant that grows on another
  • Icelandic: ásæta — plant that grows on another
  • Italian: epifita — plant that grows on another
  • Māori: tipu pipiri — plant that grows on another
  • Polish: epifit — plant that grows on another
  • Portuguese: epífita — plant that grows on another
  • Portuguese: epífito — plant that grows on another
  • Spanish: epífita — plant that grows on another
  • Spanish: epifita — plant that grows on another
  • Swedish: epifyt — plant that grows on another
  • Tagalog: halamang kapitin — plant that grows on another
  • Tagalog: halamang anginin — plant that grows on another
  • Turkish: epifit — plant that grows on another
  • Yoruba: àfòmọ́ — plant that grows on another