parasitize

P3A1R1A1S1I1T1I1Z10E1

verb

To live on or in a host organism as a parasite.

Similar
moochleechspongesuck
OriginEnglish parasite ← Middle French parasite ← Latin parasītus →
RareScrabble 21
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

verbparasitize (third-person singular simple present parasitizes, present participle parasitizing, simple past and past participle parasitized)

present singular third person parasitizes · participle present parasitizing · participle past parasitized · past parasitized · alternative UK parasitise

  1. biologyTo live on or in a host organism as a parasite.
  2. To behave as a parasite more generally.

    Synonyms: mooch, leech, sponge, suck

Synonyms & antonyms

verbTo behave as a parasite more generally.

Similar
moochleechspongesuck

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*per-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*preh₂-
  3. Proto-Hellenic*pərai
  4. Ancient Greekπᾰρᾰ́ (părắ)
  5. Ancient Greekσῖτος (sîtos)
  6. Ancient Greekπαράσιτος (parásitos)
  7. Latinparasītus
  8. Middle Frenchparasite
  9. Englishparasite
  10. Englishparasitize

From parasite + -ize.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Afrikaans parasiteer
  • parasiteerlive off a host
Bulgarian паразитирам
  • паразитирам (parazitiram)live off a host
Catalan parasitar
  • parasitarlive off a host
Chinese Mandarin 寄生
  • 寄生 (jìshēng)live off a host
Dutch parasiteren
  • parasiterenlive off a host
Finnish loisia, olla loisena
  • loisialive off a host
  • olla loisenalive off a host
French parasiter
  • parasiterlive off a host
German parasitieren, schmarotzen
  • parasitierenlive off a host
  • schmarotzenlive off a host
Hungarian élősködik
  • élősködiklive off a host
Japanese 寄生
  • 寄生 (kisei)live off a host
Latin parasitō
  • parasitōlive off a host
Polish pasożytować
  • pasożytowaćlive off a host
Portuguese parasitar
  • parasitarlive off a host
Russian паразити́ровать
  • паразити́ровать (parazitírovatʹ)live off a host
Spanish parasitar
  • parasitarlive off a host
Swedish parasitera
  • parasiteralive off a host
Ukrainian паразитува́ти
  • паразитува́ти (parazytuváty)live off a host
Vietnamese kí sinh
  • kí sinhlive off a host
Yiddish פּאַראַזיטירן
  • פּאַראַזיטירן (parazitirn)live off a host
Cite this entry
APA

parasitize. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/parasitize

MLA

“parasitize.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/parasitize. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “parasitize,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/parasitize.

Source: parasitize on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.