PARASITE

noun Etymology: Middle French, from Latin parasitus, from Greek parasitos, from para- + sitos grain, food Date: 1539 a person who exploits the hospitality of the rich and earns welcome by flattery, an organism living in, with, or on another organism in parasitism, something that resembles a biological ~ in dependence on something else for existence or support without making a useful or adequate return, parasitic also parasitical adjective parasitically adverb Synonyms: see: ~