Word.ws English Dictionary

parabiosis

parabiosis noun: the (natural or surgical) union of parts of two organisms, especially in such a way as to cause them to share their vascular systems. Organisms so joined then are called parabionts.

Noun

parabiosis (countable and uncountable, plural parabioses)

  1. The (natural or surgical) union of parts of two organisms, especially in such a way as to cause them to share their vascular systems. Organisms so joined then are called parabionts.
    • Parabiosis is the condition of more than one living organism joined ..., with ... circulatory fluids being exchanged among the parabionts.2019, Ed. B. Parekkadan et al., Stem Cell Bioengineering
    • Mud, parabiosis means that he is processing young blood and transfusing it.2017 Cosima in "Manacled Slim Wrists", Orphan Black
  2. The fusion of two embryos to form conjoined twins
    • Conjoined identical twins... could be thought of as parabionts.2019, Ed. B. Parekkadan et al., Stem Cell Bioengineering
  3. A transient physiological state of suspension of obvious vital activities such as to enable an organism to escape the notice of its enemies or to conserve its energy.
  4. (ethology) A form of symbiosis, typically among ants, in which different species share common nest galleries but maintain distinct broods and do not practice mutualism other than incidentally.
  5. An alien form of life within an organism, commonly invasive, such as a growing cancer.
    • …the fever sperm coming into ... the living frame ... is able to create a sort of other life or parabiosis within it ....1873, Walter Moxon, Guy's Hospital Reports, 3rd series, Vol XVIII https://archive.org/details/3reportsguy18guysuoft

Forms of parabiosis

pluralparabioses

Origin of parabiosis

From para- + -biosis.

Questions about parabiosis

What does parabiosis mean?
Parabiosis means the (natural or surgical) union of parts of two organisms, especially in such a way as to cause them to share their vascular systems. Organisms so joined then are called parabionts.
What part of speech is parabiosis?
Parabiosis is a noun.
What is the plural of parabiosis?
The plural of parabiosis is parabioses.

Words near parabiosis in the dictionary

  1. parabiologists
  2. parabiology
  3. parabiont
  4. parabionts
  5. parabioses
  6. parabiosis
  7. parabiotic
  8. parabiotically
  9. parablast
  10. parablastic
  11. parablasts

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: parabiosis (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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