Parasitism
Etymology
From Greek parasitos, literally "one who eats beside another" (para-, "beside," plus sitos, "food, grain") — originally a hanger-on who dined at a patron’s table in exchange for flattery. Biology adopted it for organisms that live on or in a host, and "parasitism" names that whole strategy of one-sided gain.
noun · /PAIR-uh-sih-tiz-um/
A relationship in which one organism lives off another, gaining at the host’s expense without usually killing it outright.
What it names
The freeloading arrangement that survives by staying just tolerable enough — draining a host slowly rather than destroying the thing it depends on.
Example
The consultant’s fees felt less like partnership and more like parasitism — steady enough to bear, large enough to resent.
Related idea
Both parasitism and predation take from another, but a predator kills quickly while a parasite depends on keeping its host alive.
See also