BharatNotes Parasite
noun (countable)Usage in a UPSC answer
India's National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme deploys artemisinin-based combination therapies against the Plasmodium falciparum parasite, which accounts for the majority of severe malaria cases and virtually all malaria-related deaths in high-burden states like Odisha and Jharkhand.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Word Family
parasitic (adjective), parasitise/parasitize (verb), parasitism (noun), parasitology (noun), parasitoid (noun/adjective), host-parasite (compound)
Root
Greek para- = beside, alongside + sitos = food, grain (one who eats beside another — at another's table)
Etymology
From Latin parasitus, borrowed from Greek parasitos (one who eats at another's table), composed of para- (beside, alongside) and sitos (grain, food). In ancient Greek, parasitos originally referred to a temple official who had the right to dine at public expense, then became the stock comic figure of the sponger who flatters the rich for free meals. The biological meaning — an organism that feeds at another organism's expense — developed in 17th-century natural history, retaining the core sense of exploitative co-habitation.
Memory Hook
Parasite = para (beside) + sitos (food) — one who eats BESIDE (at the expense of) another. Imagine an unwanted dinner guest who sits beside you (para) at every meal (sitos), eating your food without contributing — that is the original Greek image, and the biological reality.
Seen in UPSC Question Papers
- Prelims 2021 — Biology
- Prelims 2010 — Health
Real UPSC previous-year questions whose text uses “Parasite” — proof this word earns its place on your list.
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