Dictionary.com Thesaurus.com

ectocommensal

American

[ek-toh-kuh-men-suhl] / ˌɛk toʊ kəˈmɛn səl /

adjective

Biology. (of an organism) living in a commensal relationship on the exterior of another organism.

noun

an ectocommensal organism.

Other Word Forms

ectocommensalism noun
ectocommensality noun
ectocommensally adverb

Etymology

Origin of ectocommensal

First recorded in 1935–40; ecto- + commensal

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.