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Origin and history of symbiosis

symbiosis(n.)

1876, as a biological term, "union for life of two different organisms based on mutually benefit," from Greek symbiosis "a living together," from symbioun "live together," from symbios "(one) living together (with another), partner, companion, husband or wife," from assimilated form of syn- "together" (see syn-) + bios "life" (from PIE root *gwei- "to live").

Given a wider (non-biological) sense by 1921. An earlier sense of "communal or social life" is found in 1620s. A back-formed verb symbiose is recorded from 1960. Either of the two organisms is a symbiont (1887; earlier in German).

also from 1876

Entries linking to symbiosis

Symbionese(adj.)

in Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA), name adopted by a socialist revolutionary group active in U.S. 1972-76, coined with people-name ending -ese + simbion "an organism living in symbiosis," from Greek symbioun "live together with," from symbios "living together" (see symbiosis).

symbiotic(adj.)

"pertaining to or resembling symbiosis," 1882, in biology, from stem of symbiosis + -ic. Of human activities from 1951. Related: Symbiotical; symbiotically.

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Trends of symbiosis

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

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mutualism
1845, in reference to the doctrine of French anarchist/socialist Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (1809-1865) that individual and collective well-being is attainable only by mutual dependence, from French mutuellisme. In biology, "a symbiosis in which two organisms living together mutually
woman
"adult female human," late Old English wimman, wiman (plural wimmen), literally "woman-man," alteration of wifman (plural wifmen) "woman, female servant" (8c.), a compound of wif "woman" (see wife) + man "human being" (in Old English used in reference to both sexes; see man (n.))
skate
"type of flat, cartilaginous fish, a kind of ray," mid-14c., scate, in reference to the common European skate, from a Scandinavian source such as Old Norse skata "skate," Danish skade, Faeroese skøta, a word of unknown origin. All skates are rays, but all rays are not called ska
discrimination
1640s, "the making of distinctions, act of observing or marking a difference," from Late Latin discriminationem (nominative discriminatio), noun of action from past-participle stem of discriminare "to divide, separate" (see discriminate (v.)). Sense of "making invidious distincti
delirium
1590s, "a disordered state, more or less temporary, of the mind, often occurring during fever or illness," from Latin delirium "madness," from deliriare "be crazy, rave," literally "go off the furrow," a plowing metaphor, from phrase de lire, from de "off, away" (see de-) + lira
fatigue
1660s, "that which causes weariness," from French fatigue "weariness," from fatiguer "to tire" (15c.), from Latin fatigare "to weary, to tire out," originally "to cause to break down," from pre-Latin adjective *fati-agos "driving to the point of breakdown," with first half from O
shebang
1862 (Whitman), "hut, shed, shelter," American English slang, popularized among soldiers in the U.S. Civil War, but like much of the soldier's slang (e.g. skedaddle, shoddy), it is of uncertain origin. Perhaps it is an alteration of shebeen (q.v.), but shebang meaning "tavern," a
cataract
early 15c., "a waterfall, floodgate, furious rush of water," from Latin cataracta "waterfall," from Greek katarhaktēs "waterfall, broken water; a kind of portcullis," noun use of an adjective compound meaning "swooping, down-rushing," from kata "down" (see cata-). The second elem
cognitive
1580s, "pertaining to cognition," with -ive + Latin cognit-, past participle stem of cognoscere "to get to know, recognize," from assimilated form of com "together" (see co-) + gnoscere "to know" (from PIE root *gno- "to know"). Taken over by psychologists and sociologists after
Christian
1520s as a noun, "a believer in and follower of Christ;" 1550s as an adjective, "professing the Christian religion, received into the Christian church," 16c. forms replacing Middle English Cristen (adjective and noun), from Old English cristen, from a West Germanic borrowing of C

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