Standard Lemma guide

extremophile

noun · 1 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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1

noun

Meaning 1

Any of many organisms that live under extreme conditions of temperature, pressure, salinity, etc; many are autotrophs; some are commercially important as a source of enzymes that operate under similar conditions.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: biology, ecology, natural-sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: organism

History

Etymology

Etymology tree English extreme Ancient Greek -ο- (-o-)der. Latin -o-bor. English -o- Proto-Indo-European *bhil- Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *bhil-o-s Ancient Greek φίλος (phílos)bor. Latin -philalbor. English -phile English extremophile From extreme + -o- + -phile.

Across languages

Translations

14 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: extremòfil — organism that lives under extreme conditions
  • Chinese Mandarin: 嗜極生物 /嗜极生物 (shìjí shēngwù) — organism that lives under extreme conditions
  • Dutch: extremofiel — organism that lives under extreme conditions
  • Finnish: ekstremofiili — organism that lives under extreme conditions
  • French: extrêmophile — organism that lives under extreme conditions
  • Galician: extremófilo — organism that lives under extreme conditions
  • Greek: ακρόφιλος (akrófilos) — organism that lives under extreme conditions
  • Greek: ακραιόφιλος (akraiófilos) — organism that lives under extreme conditions
  • Italian: estremofilo — organism that lives under extreme conditions
  • Polish: ekstremofil — organism that lives under extreme conditions
  • Portuguese: extremófilo — organism that lives under extreme conditions
  • Russian: экстремофи́л (ekstremofíl) — organism that lives under extreme conditions
  • Spanish: extremófilo — organism that lives under extreme conditions
  • Swedish: extremofil — organism that lives under extreme conditions