endosymbiont

[ en-doh-sim-bee-ont, -bahy- ]

noun

1. a symbiont that lives within the body of the host.

Word History and Origins

Origin of endosymbiont¹

First recorded in 1935–40; endo- + symbiont

Example Sentences

These endosymbionts were one of the first ever described in an animal.

From Quanta Magazine

Even the mechanisms that reliably guarantee the endosymbionts will get into the right cells of their hosts and be passed from one generation to the next can be mysterious.

From Quanta Magazine