Autobiont

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A living organism that survives on its own without depending on a host or partner organism for its existence
2. An independent organism that lives freely rather than as a parasite or symbiont within or upon another species
3. Any creature that sustains itself alone and is not dependent on living in association with another organism

Etymology: Autobiont is a technical coinage, not an ancient word. It combines the Greek "autos", meaning "self", with "bion", a Greek-derived element meaning "living thing" or "a living being", as in "symbiont" and "biont". The "-bion" element is itself built on the Greek "bios", "life", which is the same root behind "biology". The word is built on the pattern of "symbiont", the older term for an organism living in close association with another. Biologists set the self-sufficient creature against the symbiont, so "autobiont" is defined by contrast: it names the organism that does not depend on a partner. Because the word is a deliberate modern construction from classical parts, it follows the same logic as words such as "autotroph" and "autonomous", where "auto-" marks self-reliance.