PAR'ASITE, noun [Latin parasita; Gr. by, and corn.]

1. In ancient Greece, a priest or minister of the gods whose office was to gather of the husbandman the corn allotted for public sacrifices. The parasites also superintended the sacrifices.

2. In modern usage, a trencher friend; one that frequents the tables of the rich and earns his welcome by flattery; a hanger on; a fawning flatterer.

3. In botany, a plant growing on the stem or branch of another plant and receiving its nourishment from it, as the mistletoe.