Word Explorer
Children's
Dictionary Suite
Help
Help
Help
Intermediate Dictionary
     

par·a·site

parasite

 
 
pronunciation:
pae r saIt
features:
Word History, Word Explorer, Word Parts
part of speech: noun
definition: a plant, animal, or fungus that lives on or in another living thing, called the host. A parasite gets its food and energy from the host organism.
寄生生物, 寄生植物
Several diseases are caused by parasites that live in the intestine.几种疾病是由生活在肠道的寄生物引起的。
Word History
Parasite comes from an ancient Greek word for someone who earned free meals at the table of another by flattering the host during dinner.
Word Explorer
See
  farming, life, life cycle, pet
Word Parts  About this feature
The word parasite contains the following part:
para- Greek prefix that means beside, alongside