parasitism
par·a·sit·ism/ˈpæɹəs(a)ɪˌtɪzm̩/noun
parasitism is spelled P-A-R-A-S-I-T-I-S-M: 10 letters and 4 syllables (par·a·sit·ism). It appears about once in every 5 million words in written English, the 69,055th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, parasitism means “Interaction between two organisms, in which one organism (the parasite) benefits and the other (the host) is harmed” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of parasitism is parasitisms.
How many letters and syllables are in parasitism?
| Letters | 10: P-A-R-A-S-I-T-I-S-M |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4: par·a·sit·ism |
| In writing | about once in every 5 million words; the 69,055th 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 parasitism?
Parasitism appears about once in every 5 million words in written English, the 69,055th 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 parasitism?
- /ˈpæɹəs(a)ɪˌtɪzm̩/
Parasitism has 4 syllables, split par·a·sit·ism in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-parasitism.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of parasitism
- parasitisms plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does parasitism mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Interaction between two organisms, in which one organism (the parasite) benefits and the other (the host) is harmed.
- 2
A similar interaction between people or things.
We accused her of parasitism in taking his hard-earned money for new dresses.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Parasitism in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense interaction between two organisms:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | parasitisme |
| German | Parasitismus, Schmarotzertum, Parasitentum |
| Portuguese | parasitismo |
| Spanish | parasitismo |
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 parasitism come from?
From parasite + -ism. Cognate with French parasitisme and Portuguese and Spanish parasitismo.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).