Showing results for inquiline. Search instead for inquilines.

inquiline

American

[in-kwuh-lahyn, -lin] / ˈɪn kwəˌlaɪn, -lɪn /

noun

Zoology. an animal living in the nest, burrow, or body of another animal.

adjective

of the nature of an inquiline.

inquiline British

/ ˈɪnkwɪˌlaɪn /

noun

an animal that lives in close association with another animal without harming it See also commensal

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

adjective

of or living as an inquiline

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of inquiline

1635–45; < Latin inquilīnus tenant, equivalent to in- in- ² + -quil-, combining form (noninitially before a front vowel) of colere to live in ( see -colous) + -īnus -ine ¹

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