Standard Lemma guide

parasitism

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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  • /ˈpæɹəs(a)ɪˌtɪzm̩/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

Interaction between two organisms, in which one organism (the parasite) benefits and the other (the host) is harmed.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable, usually

Topics: biology, ecology, natural-sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A similar interaction between people or things.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: figuratively, uncountable, usually

Examples

  • We accused her of parasitism in taking his hard-earned money for new dresses.
  • These devices' energy consumption is parasitism upon the electrical grid.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

the relation between two different kinds of organisms in which one receives benefits from the other by causing damage to it (usually not fatal damage)

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: mutuality, interdependence, interdependency

History

Etymology

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

Across languages

Translations

21 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: parasitisme — interaction between two organisms
  • Chinese Mandarin: 寄生 (jìshēng) — interaction between two organisms
  • Czech: cizopasnictví — interaction between two organisms
  • Czech: parazitismus — interaction between two organisms
  • Esperanto: parazitismo — interaction between two organisms
  • French: parasitisme — interaction between two organisms
  • Galician: parasitismo — interaction between two organisms
  • German: Parasitismus — interaction between two organisms
  • German: Schmarotzertum — interaction between two organisms
  • German: Parasitentum — interaction between two organisms
  • Greek: παρασιτισμός (parasitismós) — interaction between two organisms
  • Hindi: परजीविता (parjīvitā) — interaction between two organisms
  • Indonesian: parasitisme — interaction between two organisms
  • Italian: parassitismo — interaction between two organisms
  • Kazakh: паразитизм (parazitizm) — interaction between two organisms
  • Polish: pasożytnictwo — interaction between two organisms
  • Portuguese: parasitismo — interaction between two organisms
  • Romanian: parazitism — interaction between two organisms
  • Spanish: parasitismo — interaction between two organisms
  • Vietnamese: sự ký sinh — interaction between two organisms
  • Vietnamese: ký sinh trùng — interaction between two organisms
Real reading context

parasitism in complete knowledge articles