symbiosis

American  

[sim-bee-oh-sis, -bahy-] / ˌsɪm biˈoʊ sɪs, -baɪ- /

noun

plural

symbioses

1. Biology.

   1. the living together of two dissimilar organisms, as in mutualism, commensalism, amensalism, or parasitism.

   2. (formerly) mutualism.

2. Psychiatry. a relationship between two people in which each person is dependent upon and receives reinforcement, whether beneficial or detrimental, from the other.

3. Psychoanalysis. the relationship between an infant and their mother in which the infant is dependent on the mother both physically and emotionally.

4. any interdependent or mutually beneficial relationship between two persons, groups, etc.

---

symbiosis British  

/ ˌsɪmbɪˈəʊsɪs, ˌsɪmbaɪˈəʊsɪs /

noun

1. a close and usually obligatory association of two organisms of different species that live together, often to their mutual benefit

2. a similar relationship between interdependent persons or groups

---

symbiosis Scientific  

/ sĭm′bē-ō′sĭs /

1. The close association between two or more organisms of different species, often but not necessarily benefiting each member. The association of algae and fungi in lichens and of bacteria living in the intestines or on the skin of animals are forms of symbiosis. Some scientists believe that many multicellular organisms evolved from symbiotic relationships between unicellular ones and that the DNA-containing organelles within certain eukaryotic cells (such as mitochondria and chloroplasts) are the product of symbiotic relationships in which the participants became interdependent. There are four forms of symbiosis: amensalism, commensalism, mutualism, and parasitism.

---

symbiosis Cultural  

1. The process by which two organisms live together, usually to their mutual benefit. An example of a symbiotic pair are cows and the bacteria that live in their digestive tracts, enabling them to digest cellulose in grass.

---

Other Word Forms

• symbiotic adjective
• symbiotical adjective

Etymology

Origin of symbiosis

First recorded in 1615–25; from Greek symbíōsis, equivalent to sym- sym- + biō (variant stem of bioûn “to live”) + -sis -sis

Explanation

Symbiosis, a noun, tells about the relationship between living things that helps all of them stay alive, like the symbiosis between bees that eat nectar from flowers that get cross-pollinated when the bees move from one to the next. To correctly pronounce symbiosis, accent the third syllable: "sim-be-OH-sis." The prefix syn comes from the Greek word "together" and bios means "life." So symbiosis means "a living together." Things that live in symbiosis depend on one another, like the clown fish and anemone that protect one another from ocean predators, or the symbiosis between a dairy farmer and one who grows hay, trading milk for hay bales that feed the cows.

Example Sentences

Nothing captures Mr. Sankar’s ardent pursuit of a private-public defense symbiosis better than his call to seek out “heretics” and elevate them to positions of military and strategic authority.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 16, 2026

Investors are betting that objective symbiosis and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum’s skilled Trump whispering will renew the pact with minimal changes.

From Barron's • Feb. 12, 2026

This partnership, known as symbiosis, is the reason legumes can grow without artificial fertilizer.

From Science Daily • Dec. 9, 2025

The origin of their freaky symbiosis is never quite clear, exactly as Garrett wants it to be.

From Salon • Sep. 25, 2025

Later, when the time is right, there may be fusion and symbiosis among the bits, and then we will see eukaryotic thought, metazoans of thought, huge interliving coral shoals of thought.

From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas

Related Words

• body
• existence
• growth
• living
• man
• person
• soul
• survival
• woman