kleptoparasitism

English

WOTD – 11 February 2025

Etymology

A common tern (Sterna hirundo; top) exhibiting kleptoparasitism by stealing a fish from a black-headed gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus).

From klepto- (prefix meaning ‘stealing, theft’) +‎ parasitism.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌklɛptəʊˈpæɹəsɪtɪz(ə)m/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌklɛptoʊˈpɛɹəsɪˌtɪzəm/, /-ˌsaɪ-/

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: klep‧to‧pa‧ra‧sit‧i‧sm

Noun

kleptoparasitism (uncountable)

1. (zoology) The parasitic theft of captured prey, nest material, etc., from animals of the same or another species.

   Hypernym: parasitism

   Coordinate term: brood parasitism

Alternative forms

• cleptoparasitism (archaic)

Related terms

• kleptoparasite
• kleptoparasitic
• kleptoparasitize
• kleptopredation

Translations

parasitic theft of captured prey, nest material, etc., from animals of the same or another species

• Arabic: دغريات ?
• Bulgarian: клептопаразитизъм (kleptoparazitizǎm)
• Catalan: cleptoparasitisme m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 盜食寄生 / 盗食寄生 (dàoshíjìshēng), 偷竊寄生 / 偷窃寄生 (tōuqièjìshēng)

• Czech: kleptoparasitismus ?
• Danish: kleptoparasitisme ?
• Dutch: kleptoparasitisme n
• Finnish: kleptoparasitismi
• French: cleptoparasitisme (fr) m
• Galician: cleptoparasitismo m
• German: Kleptoparasitismus m
• Hebrew: חומסנות ?
• Indonesian: kleptoparasitisme
• Japanese: 盗み寄生 (ぬすみきせい, nusumikisei), 労働寄生 (ja) (ろうどうきせい, rōdōkisei)
• Kazakh: клептопаразитизм (kleptoparazitizm)
• Macedonian: please add this translation if you can
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: kleptoparasitisme ?

  Nynorsk: please add this translation if you can

• Persian: طعمه‌دزدی
• Polish: kleptopasożytnictwo n
• Portuguese: cleptoparasitismo m
• Romanian: cleptoparazitism ?
• Russian: клептопаразитизм (ru) m (kleptoparazitizm)
• Spanish: cleptoparasitismo m
• Swedish: kleptoparasitism ?
• Turkish: kleptoparasitizm
• Ukrainian: клептопаразитизм m (kleptoparazytyzm)
• Vietnamese: ký sinh ăn cướp

Further reading

• kleptoparasitism on Wikipedia.Wikipedia