epizoic

American  

[ep-uh-zoh-ik] / ˌɛp əˈzoʊ ɪk /

adjective

Biology.

1. externally parasitic.

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epizoic British  

/ ˌɛpɪˈzəʊɪk /

adjective

1. (of an animal or plant) growing or living on the exterior of a living animal

2. (of plants) having seeds or fruit dispersed by animals

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epizoic Scientific  

/ ĕp′ĭ-zō′ĭk /

1. Living or growing on the external surface of an animal.

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Other Word Forms

• epizoism noun

Etymology

Origin of epizoic

First recorded in 1855–60; epizo(on) + -ic

Example Sentences

The only epizoic species, according to M. Fries, is Agaricus cerussatus v. nauseosus, which has been met with in Russia on the carcase of a wolf; this, however, might have been accidental.

From Fungi: Their Nature and Uses by Cooke, M. C. (Mordecai Cubitt)

Like many epizoic or parasitic insects, Hemimerus is wingless, eyeless and has relatively short and strong legs.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 13, Slice 3 "Helmont, Jean" to "Hernosand" by Various

As the summer wanes their dead bodies are frequently found in the footpaths; for a kind of epizoic seems to seize them at that time, and they die in numbers.

From Wild Life in a Southern County by Jefferies, Richard

The passage is in "The Poet at the Breakfast Table": Our epizoic literature is becoming so extensive that nobody is safe from its ad infinitum progeny.

From The Critical Game by Macy, John Albert