Commensal types, be they human or beast, often "break bread" together. When they do, they are reflecting the etymology of commensal, which derives from the Latin prefix com-, meaning "with, together," jointly and the Latin adjective mensalis, meaning "of the table." In its earliest English uses, "commensal" referred to people who ate together, but around 1870, biologists started using it for organisms that have no use for a four-piece table setting. Since then, the scientific sense has almost completely displaced the dining one.
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the WebDanska’s research suggests that the composition of commensal microbes diverges in male and female mice around puberty, so something seems to happen to the bacteria around that time. Melinda Wenner Moyer, Scientific American, 1 Sep. 2021 Two species, both carnivores to a greater or lesser extent, with different nutritional needs, could have a commensal relationship. James Gorman, New York Times, 7 Jan. 2021 Instead of buying time on the array, Breakthrough Listen is tapping into the data stream while the telescope observes its regular targets—a procedure known as commensal observing. Daniel Clery, Science | AAAS, 10 Sep. 2020 In payment, the plants feed their commensal friends with sugars. Jason Pontin, WIRED, 15 June 2018 This turned out to be because the antibiotics also diminished the numbers of tuft cells in the colon; only they, and not commensal bacteria, are required for norovirus infection. Diana Gitig, Ars Technica, 14 Apr. 2018
Word History
Etymology
Middle English, from Medieval Latin commensalis, from Latin com- + Late Latin mensalis of the table, from Latin mensa table