parasitic
/ˌpeɹəˈsɪtɪk/peh-ruh-SIH-tik
UK form converted from the US by rule · unchecked/ˌpɛɹəˈsɪtɪk/peh-ruh-SIH-tik
Meaninglike a parasite
Common meaning: living off another
Tap a word part to explore
- parabeside
- sitgrain, foodLiddell & Scott, Greek-English Lexicon (1883), p. 1391 · scan
- icadjective ending: relating to
‘beside’ + ‘grain, food’ → parasitic
Journey through time
- Greekσῖτος‘grain, food’
- Latinparasitus
- Frenchparasite
- Englishparasite‘an organism living off another’
- Englishformed in English from parasiteparasitic‘living off another’ · today
Sources & notes
Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
- No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
- US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
- No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.
Origin: Formed in English from parasite + -ic.
Dictionary: Skeat (1898), PARASITE, p.421 · scan
Roots
- σῖτος Greek “grain, food”
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