parasite

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   An animal or plant that lives on or inside another and feeds off it.

   Lice, fleas, and ticks are common parasites.

2. 2
   noun

   A person who lives off others and gives nothing in return.

   They saw him as a parasite, sponging off his wealthy relatives.

From Middle French parasite, from Latin parasitus, from Ancient Greek παράσιτος (parásitos, “person who eats at the table of another”), from noun use of adjective meaning "feeding beside", from παρά (pará, “beside”) + σῖτος (sîtos, “food”).

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