noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   A microorganism (such as a yeast-type fungus or a protozoon) that grows on the surface of an animal host, as:; In a nonparasitic way, using an animal's skin as a microhabitat. usually
2. 2
   any external parasitic organism (as fleas) wordnet
3. 3
   A microorganism (such as a yeast-type fungus or a protozoon) that grows on the surface of an animal host, as:; In a parasitic way, as an external parasite. uncommon

Synonyms

All synonyms

ectoparasiteectoparasiteectozoanectozoonepizoan

Etymology

From epi- + -zoon.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.