symbiosis
noun
-ˌbī-
-ˌbī-
John Geipel
Did you know?
Symbiosis was adopted by the scientific community in the late 1800s, coming ultimately (via German) from the Greek symbíōsis, meaning “living together, companionship.” Of course, there are a lot of ways to live together and, accordingly, several flavors of symbiosis. When a biological symbiosis between two organisms is mutually beneficial, it is termed mutualism. For example, oxpeckers are birds so named because they “peck” ticks off of infested cattle and wild mammals, a likely satisfying arrangement for both parties, and textbook mutualism. When one organism lives off another at the other’s expense, however (as, for one icky instance, head lice do), it’s called parasitism. If only parents of elementary school students could call upon an equivalent of oxpeckers to engage in mutualistic symbiosis when the need arose, but alas.
Examples of symbiosis in a Sentence
Jerry Saltz, Vulture, 14 June 2024
And after eons of being imprisoned and thinking of ways to punish his parasitic children, Knull suddenly realizes that Eddie and Venom’s unique symbiosis has created the MacGuffin necessary to set him free.
—Charles Pulliam-Moore, The Verge, 24 Oct. 2024
But despite this symbiosis, the more powers and responsibilities the executive branch had, the more the chief executive and the administrative state vied for authority over those government functions.
—Stephen I. Vladeck, Foreign Affairs, 19 Oct. 2021
This symbiosis between academia and industry will catalyze a boom in the continuing education sector, projected to achieve a staggering 25.4% annual growth rate between 2025 and 2030.
—Bernard Marr, Forbes, 14 Oct. 2024
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Dictionary Entries Near symbiosis
Cite this Entry
“Symbiosis.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/symbiosis. Accessed 30 Nov. 2024.
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symbiosis
noun
Medical Definition
symbiosis
noun
-bē-
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