antibiosis

noun

an·​ti·​bi·​o·​sis ˌan-tē-bī-ˈō-səs 

-bē-,

ˌan-ˌtī- 

: antagonistic association between organisms to the detriment of one of them or between one organism and a metabolic product of another

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from French antibiose, from anti- anti- + -biose (in symbiose symbiosis)

Note: French antibiose and the corresponding adjective antibiotique were introduced by the French mycologist Jean-Paul Guillemin (1861-1932) in "Antibiose et symbiose," a paper read to the French Association for the Advancement of the Sciences on August 11, 1889 (Association française pour l'avancement des sciences, Compte rendu de la 18me session, Paris, 1889, 2. partie, Notes et Mémoires, Paris, 1890), pp. 525-43.

First Known Use

1889, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

antibiosis

noun

an·​ti·​bi·​o·​sis ˌant-i-bī-ˈō-səs, ˌan-ˌtī-; ˌant-i-bē- 

plural antibioses -ˌsēz 

: antagonistic association between organisms to the detriment of one of them or between one organism and a metabolic product of another