Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

commensalism

/kəˈmɛnsəˌlɪzm̩/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.25 in modern English

Syllables
com-men-sal-ism
IPA
/kəˈmɛnsəˌlɪzm̩/
20
Scrabble Score
12
Letters
4
Syllables
9
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A sharing of the same environment by two organisms where one species benefits and the other is unaffected. An example is barnacles on whales.

Countable; Uncountable

noun

The act of eating together; table fellowship.

Countable; Uncountable

Etymology

Etymology tree English commensal Proto-Indo-European *-id- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti Proto-Hellenic *-íd͏̌d͏̌ō Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō) Proto-Indo-European *-mos Proto-Indo-European *-mós Ancient Greek -μός (-mós) Ancient Greek -ισμός (-ismós)der. English -ism English commensalism From commensal + -ism.

Usage

Inflected Forms

Derived Forms

Questions

How do you pronounce commensalism?
The recorded pronunciation is /kəˈmɛnsəˌlɪzm̩/.
What does commensalism mean?
A sharing of the same environment by two organisms where one species benefits and the other is unaffected. An example is barnacles on whales.
Where does commensalism come from?
Etymology tree English commensal Proto-Indo-European *-id- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti Proto-Hellenic *-íd͏̌d͏̌ō Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō) Proto-Indo-European *-mos Proto-Indo-European *-mós Ancient Greek -μός (-mós) Ancient Greek -ισμός (-ismós)der. English -ism English commensalism From commensal + -ism.

How to pronounce commensalism

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “commensalism”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/kəˈmɛnsəˌlɪzm̩/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “commensalism”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “commensalism” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.