Etymology

commensal

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Today it means: Of a form of symbiosis in which one organism derives a benefit while the other is unaffected. Full definition →

Middle English commensal ← Old French commensal ← Medieval Latin commensālis
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The story

  1. Medieval Latin · derived fromcommensālis
  2. Old French · derived fromcommensal
  3. Middle English · inherited fromcommensal
  4. English todaycommensal

From Middle English commensal, from Old French commensal, from Medieval Latin commensālis, from com- + mensa (“table”) + -ālis.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.