Inquilines

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Organisms that live inside the nest, burrow or home of another species, using it for shelter without harming their host
2. Creatures that take up residence in the dwellings of other animals, sharing the space for shelter while neither helping nor injuring the owners
3. Animals or plants that dwell within the nests or habitats built by a different species, deriving shelter from them without causing damage

Etymology: "Inquilines" is the plural of "inquiline", a noun for an animal that lives inside the nest, burrow or body of another species, often without harming it. The English word comes from Latin "inquilinus", meaning "tenant" or "lodger", and it is a doublet of the Italian "inquilino", meaning the same thing, so the two words descend from one Latin source by separate routes. The Latin base is built from "in", "in", and "colere", "to dwell" or "to inhabit", the same verb behind words such as "colony" and "cultivate". A Roman "inquilinus" was therefore someone who dwelt within a house or property that belonged to another person, which is the same arrangement the biological sense describes: one organism residing in the domain of another.

Synonyms: commensal, lodger