Parasite

Parasite

Noun · /ˈpærəsaɪt/ · an organism or person that lives off another

Definition

A living organism that depends on another organism (the host) for food, shelter, or survival, often causing harm to it. In everyday English, a person who habitually exploits others without giving anything in return. Both senses share the same core image: taking without contributing.

Origin

From Greek parasitos — para (beside) + sitos (food). Originally meant someone who eats at another's table. In ancient Greece, a parasitos was a professional dinner guest who entertained the host in exchange for a meal. The word shifted from social freeloader to biological term by the seventeenth century.