Parasite (disambiguation)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A parasite commonly refers to an organism that lives on or inside another organism, a phenomenon known as parasitism.

[edit] Etymology

The original meaning of the term refers to a "professional guest" in ancient Greece, from Greek παράσιτος parasitos = "one who eats from another's table", literally "one who is beside the bread"; a parasitos was a sycophant who dined with the wealthy. Earliest reference is made to it in Plutarch's Lives with respect to Solon regulating the "the law of public entertainment" ("parasitein" was his name for it)

[edit] Parasite or parasitism may also refer to

[edit] See also