Klryz
Pronunciation guide: IPA symbols, stress and word endings

Vowels

iːseeɪsite / ɛbedæcat
ɑːfatherɒhot (UK)ɔːlawʊput
uːtooʌcupɜːbirdəabout
eɪdayaɪmyɔɪboyaʊnow
əʊ / oʊgo (UK / US)ɪəneareəhairʊətour

Consonants that look unusual

θthinðthisʃsheʒmeasure
tʃchurchdʒjudgeŋsingjyes

p b t d k g f v s z h m n l r w sound as in ordinary English spelling.

Marks

  • ˈ main stress, before the stressed syllable: /ˈwɔːtə/ water · ˌ lighter (secondary) stress: /ˌʌndəˈstænd/ understand
  • ː a long vowel · (r) an r said only in accents that pronounce it (most American, Scottish, Irish)

Common word endings

  • -s / -es (plurals; he/she form of verbs): /s/ after voiceless sounds (cats), /z/ after voiced (dogs), /ɪz/ after s, z, sh, ch, j sounds (buses, watches). Spelling: -es after s, x, z, ch, sh; consonant + y → -ies (city → cities).
  • -ed (past): /t/ after voiceless sounds (walked), /d/ after voiced (played), /ɪd/ after t or d (wanted). Spelling: love → loved, stop → stopped, carry → carried.
  • -ing: make → making, run → running, see → seeing.
  • Irregular: go, went, gone · be, was, been · see, saw, seen · man → men · child → children · mouse → mice.
  • Older (King James) forms: -eth = -s (he loveth = he loves) · -est with “thou” (thou lovest) · spake = spoke.

English Dictionary · 107,383 entries · Sources & licences

“parasites” is a form of

parasite

/ˈpæɹəˌsaɪt/ noun, verb

Forms parasites parasiting parasited

  1. noun (biology) An organism that lives on or in another organism of a different species, deriving benefit from living on or in that other organism, while not contributing towards that other organism sufficiently to cover the cost to that other organism. “Lice, fleas, ticks, and mites are widely spread parasites.”
  2. noun (informal, specifically) An internal parasite that is an animal or protist.
  3. noun (derogatory) A person who lives on other people's efforts or expense and gives little or nothing back.
  4. noun (derogatory) A sycophant or hanger-on.
  5. noun (literary, poetic) A climbing plant which is supported by a wall, trellis etc.
  6. noun (historical) A retainer or companion of an ancient Celtic warrior, who praised him in song or poetry at gatherings; a bard.
  7. noun (aviation) A component of a composite aircraft which is carried aloft and air-launched by a larger carrier aircraft or mother ship to support the primary mission of the carrier; a parasite aircraft.
  8. noun (retail, used attributively) An isolated (FSDU) (freestanding display unit ) “parasite display”
  9. verb (rare) To parasitize.

Synonyms

bloodsucker bludger bummer freeloader free rider gadfly leech mooch moocher scrounge scrounger scunge smell-feast sponge sponger sucker trencher mate

Antonyms

commensal mutualist sometimes symbiote host

Etymology

From Middle French parasite, from Latin parasitus, from Ancient Greek παράσιτος (parásitos, “person who eats at the table of another”), from noun use of adjective meaning "feeding beside", from παρά (pará, “beside”) + σῖτος (sîtos, “food”).

Webster’s 1913

  1. noun One who frequents the tables of the rich, or who lives at another's expense, and earns his welcome by flattery; a hanger-on; a toady; a sycophant.
  2. noun (a) A plant obtaining nourishment immediately from other plants to which it attaches itself, and whose juices it absorbs; --sometimes, but erroneously, called epiphyte.

Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “parasite”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details

Sanskrit

Sanskrit dictionary entries whose meaning includes “parasite” (best matches first).

All 11 Sanskrit matches →