Primary
''symbiosis'' ▫ᴱᴺ｜Definition｜1st｜20260125204041-00-⌔
symbiosis - Wiktionary, the free dictionary
English
Noun
symbiosis (countable and uncountable, plural symbioses)
- A relationship of mutual benefit, especially among different species.
- (ecology) The close and long-term relationship or interaction between two or more different species.
- ✤ Hyponyms: mutualism, commensalism, parasitism, amensalism
- (especially) The close and long-term relationship or interaction between two or more different species in which all organisms benefit; mutualism.
- ✤ Bees and flowers display symbiosis. The bees get nectar and the flowers get pollinated.
- The state of people of different types, races, cultures, communities, etc., living together.
- The occurrence of two different or opposing things in the same time and place.
- ✤ In this peculiar and deadly symbiosis the presence of warfare stimulates trade and the presence of trade stimulates warfare.1
Etymology
From Ancient Greek συμβίωσις (sumbíōsis, “living together”). By surface analysis, sym- + -biosis.
Pronunciation
- (General American) IPA: /sɪmbaɪˈoʊsɪs/, /sɪmbiˈoʊsɪs/
- Audio (US): 🔊
- Rhymes: -əʊsɪs
Printed 2026-06-28.
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Link to original Footnotes
1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 135: ↩
Secondary
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