Etymologically
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parasitic

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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˌpæɹ.əˈsɪt.ɪk/[1]
  • US: /ˌpɛɹ.əˈsɪt.ɪk/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin parasīticus (“of or characteristic of a parasite”),[2][3][4][5] from Ancient Greek παρασιτικός (parasitikós),[2][3][4] from παράσιτος (parásitos, “one who eats at another's table”), the source of parasite, with the suffix -ικός (-ikós).[2][5][6] The Greek noun is formed from παρά (pará, “beside”) and σῖτος (sîtos, “food, grain”).[2][3] The OED compares Middle French parasitique, recorded from about 1500, and the earlier English parasitical.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of or like a parasite, a person who lives at another's expense; sycophantic: 1630, in George Hakewill's Apologie.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The word first described human hangers-on, as did parasitical, recorded from the 1570s of toadies.[3][2] The biological sense, living on another organism, followed in 1731, in Philip Miller's Gardeners Dictionary,[2][3] after parasite itself had been applied to plants and animals from the 1640s.[3] From 1842 it was used of diseases caused by parasites,[2] and since 1844 of climbing plants that rely on another for support.[2] In the 19th and 20th centuries it took on technical senses: in linguistics, from 1870, of a sound or letter that has developed in a word without being there originally,[2] and in electronics, from 1889, of unwanted currents or effects that arise as by-products,[2] with parasitics for parasitic oscillations from 1943.[2][5]

Timeline

  • 1630 – of a human parasite; sycophantic.[2][3]
  • 1731 – biology, living as a parasite on an organism.[2][3]
  • 1800 – noun, a parasitic plant or fungus.[2]
  • 1842 – of a disease, caused by parasites.[2]
  • 1870 – linguistics, of a sound or letter added to a word.[2]
  • 1889 – of unwanted electrical effects.[2]
  • 1943 – noun, in the plural, parasitic oscillations.[2]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Of, relating to or like a parasite; living on or in another organism and taking its food from it: parasitic worms.[7][2][5]
  2. Caused by parasites: a parasitic infection.[7][2]
  3. Living off others while giving little in return; sycophantic.[5][2]
  4. (linguistics) Of a sound or letter: not originally part of a word but developed in it, like the b in thimble.[2][5]
  5. (electronics) Of currents, oscillations or other effects: occurring as unwanted by-products of a circuit or device.[2][5]

Noun

  1. (electronics) A parasitic current or oscillation.[5][2]

Word family

  • parasitically
  • parasiticalness
  • nonparasitic
  • antiparasitic
  • semiparasitic
  • unparasitic

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt