If you've ever seen a bunch of barnacles attached to a great big whale, you've seen an example of commensalism, or one organism getting benefits from another without hurting it.
First used in a biological sense in 1870, commensalism originates from the Middle Latin word commensalis, derived from com ("together") and mensa ("table"). It's a relationship between two organisms in which one receives benefits without causing harm. Commensalism should not be confused with mutualism, a relationship in which both organisms benefit from each other.
