ectoparasite
ec·to·par·a·site/ˌɛktəˈpɛɹəˌsaɪt/noun
ectoparasite is spelled E-C-T-O-P-A-R-A-S-I-T-E: 12 letters and 5 syllables (ec·to·par·a·site). It appears about once in every 95 million words in written English, the 313,259th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, ectoparasite means “A parasite that lives on the surface of a host organism; such as the Demodex mite, which lives in human hair and eyelashes” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of ectoparasite is ectoparasites.
How many letters and syllables are in ectoparasite?
| Letters | 12: E-C-T-O-P-A-R-A-S-I-T-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 5: ec·to·par·a·site |
| In writing | about once in every 95 million words; the 313,259th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is ectoparasite?
Ectoparasite appears about once in every 95 million words in written English, the 313,259th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce ectoparasite?
- UK /ˌɛktə(ʊ)ˈpæɹəˌsaɪt/
- US /ˌɛktəˈpɛɹəˌsaɪt/
Ectoparasite has 5 syllables, split ec·to·par·a·site in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Forms of ectoparasite
- ectoparasites plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does ectoparasite mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A parasite that lives on the surface of a host organism; such as the Demodex mite, which lives in human hair and eyelashes.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Ectoparasite in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense parasite living on the surface of host organism:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | Ektoparasit |
| Portuguese | ectoparasita |
| Spanish | ectoparásito |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does ectoparasite come from?
From ecto- (from Ancient Greek ἐκτός (ektós, “outside”)) + parasite.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).