Parasitism
WordNet
noun
(1) The relation between two different kinds of organisms in which one receives benefits from the other by causing damage to it (usually not fatal damage)
WiktionaryText
Etymology
- From παράσιτος parasitos "person who eats at the table of another" + -ism, from n. use of adj. meaning "feeding beside," from παρα- para- "beside" + σίτος sitos "food".
Noun
parasitism
- interaction between two organisms, in which one organism (the parasite) benefits and the other (the host) is harmed (dictionary definition). this can also refer to humans eg. a younger sibling is attached to the older sibling like a leech. (not a dictionary definition)