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inquiline

in·qui·line
I i

Transcription

    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • [in-kwuh-lahyn, -lin]
    • /ˈɪn kwəˌlaɪn, -lɪn/
    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • [in-kwuh-lahyn, -lin]
    • /ˈɪn kwəˌlaɪn, -lɪn/

Definitions of inquiline word

  • noun inquiline Zoology. an animal living in the nest, burrow, or body of another animal. 1
  • adjective inquiline of the nature of an inquiline. 1
  • noun inquiline An animal exploiting the living space of another, e.g., an insect that lays its eggs in a gall produced by another. 1
  • noun inquiline an animal that lives in close association with another animal without harming it 0
  • adjective inquiline of or living as an inquiline 0
  • noun inquiline an animal, usually an insect, that lives in the nest or abode of another, with or without harm to the host 0

Information block about the term

Origin of inquiline

First appearance:

before 1635
One of the 43% oldest English words
1635-45; < Latin inquilīnus tenant, equivalent to in- in-2 + -quil-, combining form (noninitially before a front vowel) of colere to live in (see -colous) + -īnus -ine1

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Inquiline

noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation

inquiline popularity

A pretty common term. Usually people know it’s meaning, but prefer to use a more spread out synonym. About 44% of English native speakers know the meaning and use word.
According to our data most of word are more popular. This word is almost not used. It has a much more popular synonym.

inquiline usage trend in Literature

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer

See also

Matching words

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