# Symbiotic
## Overview
**Symbiotic** describes a relationship of close, prolonged interaction between different organisms or entities. In biology, symbiosis encompasses mutualism, commensalism, and parasitism. In popular usage, the word typically implies mutual benefit.
## Etymology
From **symbiosis** + **-tic**. German botanist Heinrich Anton de Bary coined *Symbiose* in 1877 from Greek *symbiōsis* ('a living together'), from *symbioun* ('to live together'), composed of *syn-* ('together, with') and *bios* ('life, way of living'). Greek *bios* derives from PIE **\*gʷeyh₃-** ('to live').
PIE **\*gʷeyh₃-** ('to live') produced two major Greek derivatives and a Germanic line:
### Through Greek bios ('life'): - **Biology**: *bios* + *logos* — the study of life - **Biography**: *bios* + *graphein* — writing about a life - **Symbiosis**: *syn-* + *bios* — living together - **Antibiotic**: *anti-* + *bios* — against life (substances that kill bacteria) - **Amphibious**: *amphi-* ('both') + *bios* — living in both (water and land) - **Microbe**: *mikros* ('small') + *bios* — small life - **Aerobic**: *aēr* ('air') + *bios* — living with air
### Through Greek zoē ('life' — a different word for life, emphasizing the biological fact of being alive): - **Zoo**: from *zōion* ('living being, animal') - **Zoology**: the study of animals
### Through Germanic: - **Quick**: from Old English *cwic* ('alive, living') — the original meaning was 'alive,' not 'fast.' The phrase 'the quick and the dead' means 'the living and the dead.' The speed sense developed because living things move. - **Vivid**: through Latin *vivere* ('to live') from the same
## Types of Symbiosis
De Bary's original definition was broad: any close interaction between different species. Biologists distinguish three main types:
**Mutualism**: both organisms benefit. Clownfish and sea anemones (the fish gains protection, the anemone gains food scraps and cleaning). Mycorrhizal fungi and plant roots (the fungus gains sugars, the plant gains mineral absorption).
**Commensalism**: one organism benefits, the other is unaffected. Barnacles on whales (the barnacle gains transport and access to food; the whale is negligibly affected).
**Parasitism**: one organism benefits at the other's expense. Tapeworms in a host's intestines (the worm gains nutrition, the host loses it).
Popular usage has narrowed **symbiotic** to mean primarily mutualistic — a 'symbiotic relationship' in everyday speech implies mutual benefit.
## Figurative Usage
The word has been enthusiastically adopted for human relationships and systems: 'a symbiotic relationship between art and commerce,' 'the symbiotic bond between rider and horse.' These figurative uses almost always imply mutualism — a beneficial interdependence.
## Related Forms
The family includes **symbiosis** (noun), **symbiotic** (adjective), **symbiotically** (adverb), **symbiont** (an organism in a symbiotic relationship), and **endosymbiosis** (one organism living inside another — the theory that mitochondria originated as endosymbiotic bacteria).