symbiotic

adjective

sym·​bi·​ot·​ic ˌsim-bē-ˈä-tik 

: relating to or marked by symbiosis:

a

: characterized by, living in, or being a close physical association (as in mutualism or commensalism) between two or more dissimilar organisms

The truffle is a … fungus that forms a symbiotic relationship with its host tree.

—Robb Walsh

Termites harbor diverse symbiotic gut microorganisms, the majority of which are as yet uncultivable and their interrelationships unclear.

—Yuichi Hongoh et al.

b

: characterized by or being a close, cooperative, or interdependent relationship

Today, art advisers are as diverse as the clients they help. They often work alone and form intimate, symbiotic relationships with the people they serve.

—Deborah Gimelson

Sigal's study … illustrates how reporters' constant need for news and how government officials' need for publicity and favorable coverage for their agencies combine into a symbiotic relationship between Washington reporters and officials.

—Charles R. Wright

symbiotically

ˌsim-bē-ˈä-ti-k(ə-)lē 

adverb

Some species of clams … live symbiotically with sulfur-loving bacteria: the bacteria, which live on the clams' gills, get sulfide from the clams, and the clams, in turn, feed on the bacteria.

—Natural History

The irony is that the Pentagon and the Soviet Defense Ministry prosper symbiotically.

—Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.

Examples of symbiotic in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

But with the proper support, all sorts of places can turn their relationship with asylum seekers into a symbiotic one, where the latter receive stability and work and the former get as dedicated a new workforce as possible, not to mention injections of cultural experience. —New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 26 June 2024

Today, science can't be separated from culture: for better or for worse, their symbiotic relationship drives forward the frontiers of arts and politics. —Big Think, 24 June 2024

Some insects have evolved relationships with symbiotic bacteria that recycle usable nitrogen from this waste. —Rohini Subrahmanyam, Scientific American, 14 May 2024

The evangelists of free exchange insisted that unregulated capitalism and liberal democracy were symbiotic. —Binyamin Appelbaum, Foreign Affairs, 16 Feb. 2021

Word History

Etymology

symbi(osis) + -otic entry 1, probably after German symbiotisch

First Known Use

1875, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

symbiotic

adjective

sym·​bi·​ot·​ic ˌsim-ˌbī-ˈät-ik  -bē- 

variants also symbiotical

-i-kəl 

: relating to, characterized by, living in, or resulting from a state of symbiosis

symbiotically

-i-k(ə-)lē 

adverb