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Organism vs Supraorganism - What's the difference?

organism | supraorganism |

As nouns the difference between organism and supraorganism

is that organism is (biology) a discrete and complete living thing, such as animal, plant, fungus or microorganism while supraorganism is (biology|ecology) a system of multiple organisms that may be considered a single organism, such as an insect colony, or an organism with endosymbionts.

organism

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • (biology) A discrete and complete living thing, such as animal, plant, fungus or microorganism.
  • *{{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-20, volume=408, issue=8845, magazine=(The Economist)
    • , title= Welcome to the plastisphere , passage=Plastics are energy-rich substances, which is why many of them burn so readily. Any organism that could unlock and use that energy would do well in the Anthropocene. Terrestrial bacteria and fungi which can manage this trick are already familiar to experts in the field.}}
  • (by extension) Any complex thing with properties normally associated with living things.

    • Hyponyms

    * See also

    Derived terms

    * free-living organism * organismal * organismic

    Anagrams

    * * English words suffixed with -ism

    supraorganism

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (biology, ecology) A system of multiple organisms that may be considered a single organism, such as an insect colony, or an organism with endosymbionts.

    • Usage notes

    * The much more common noun (superorganism) is mostly synonymous, though some speakers may draw a distinction.