autoecism
|au-to-ec-ism|
🇺🇸
/ˌɔːtoʊˈiːsɪzəm/
🇬🇧
/ˌɔːtəʊˈiːsɪzəm/
self + house (single-host or species-level ecology)
Etymology
'autoecism' originates from Greek (via New Latin/scientific coinage), specifically the elements 'autos' and 'oikos', where 'autos' meant 'self' and 'oikos' meant 'house' or 'environment'. The suffix '-ism' denotes a condition or practice.
'autoecism' changed from New Latin scientific formations such as 'autoecismus' used in 19th-century biological and parasitological literature, and it eventually became the modern English word 'autoecism'.
Initially it conveyed the notion of 'relating to one's own house/environment', but over time it specialized to mean 'the condition of completing a life cycle on a single host' or the study of an individual species' ecology.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
the condition or property of being autoecious — i.e., a parasite (especially rust fungi) that completes its life cycle on a single host species.
The rust's autoecism meant that it required only a single plant species to complete its life cycle.
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Noun 2
(less common) Autoecology — the study or description of the ecology of an individual species (its relations to the environment).
Autoecism examines how a single species adapts to climatic and soil conditions in its range.
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Last updated: 2025/11/25 07:18