-cola, -colas; -cole; -colent; -colid; -coline; -colous

(Latin: to inhabit; to live in, to live on, to live among; to dwell; living among, dwelling in; occurring on, occurring in)

Suffixes that refer to the location or an area of growth. Used primarily in botanical and biological terminology to indicate a plant or an organism that is characterized by a habitat or place of existence as indicated by the combining root.

The suffix -cole is derived from Latin colere, "to inhabit, to dwell, to live".

If you want to see more details about a "Source" link under any of the entries in this unit, click on it and you will be taken to the Bibliography of Habitat and Dwelling Environments unit and there you can find the book by scrolling down until you see the TITLE of the book in GREEN.

Don't confuse this -cole, -cola , "inhabit, live in, dwelling in" unit with the following cole-, coleo- (sheath, scabbard, vagina); coll-, col- (neck); collo-, coll- (glue); colo-, col- (colon, large intestine); and colon-, coln- (farm, settlement) units.

patocole (verb), patocoles; patocoled; patocoling: forest litter
Inhabiting forest litter for only part of an organism's normal life cycle.
patocoline (adjective), more patocoline, most patocoline
patocolous (adjective), more patocolous, most patocolous
pelagocole (verb), pelagocoles; pelagocoled; pelagocoling: surface water
Living in the open surface waters of the sea.
pelochthocole (verb), pelochthocoles; pelochthocoled; pelochthocoling: mudbank
Surviving and thriving on mudbanks.
pelocole (verb), pelocoles; pelocoled; pelocoling: clay
Living, or thriving, in habitats that are rich in clay.
pergelicole (verb), pergelicoles; pergelicoled; pergelicoling: low salt
Living in geloid soils with low salt contend and weak solutions.
pergelicolous (adjective), more pergelicolous, most pergelicolous
perhalicole (verb), perhalicoles; perhalicoled; perhalicoling: high salt
Existing in haloid soils that have a high salt content and concentrated solutions.
perhalicolous (adjective)
petricole (verb), petricoles; petricoled; petricoling
To grow within rocky areas: The world's great seabird colonies, which crowd the precipitous cliffs and boulder-strewn edges of rocky shores, petricole in such areas because of the availability of suitable nesting sites and the abundant supply of fish in nearby waters.
petricoline (adjective), more petricoline, most petricoline
Relating to certain species of aquatic animals and plants that live in areas of rock formations near lakes, oceans, etc.: At the water's edge, every stony ledge and every cranny or hole has it contingent of petricoline birds that are taking turns bringing home quantities of small fish to feed their ravenous chicks.

Each petricoline colony of seabirds produce noises that are raucous or piercing; such as, caw, kik-kik-kik, growl, or snarl and the gannets, the largest birds cut the air in their stupendous, straight-down dives.

petricolous (adjective), more petricolous, most petricolous
Referring to organisms that live in the surface film of water that is on rocks: Alpine plants have a petricolous way of growing in rock fissures and crevices, since they are not able to thrive normally in the ground.
petrocole (verb), petrocoles; petrocoled; petrocoling
To live in rocky habitats: The Rocky Mountain sheep, with their large and curled horns, petrocole in very craggy and boulder-strewn areas in North America.
petrocoline (adjective), more petrocoline, most petrocoline
Relating to life that exists on rocks or in rocky habitats: Petrocoline activities of small animals in the Alps relate mainly to finding food and protecting themselves against predators.

For more details about plants and animals living together, go to this Habitats for the Living page.

The list of books or the resources that were used to compile the information for this unit are available at this Bibliography of Habitat and Dwelling Environments unit.


You may take a self-scoring quiz over some of the words in this section by clicking on this -cole, -colus quiz to check your word knowledge for this unit or even learn some of the words via this quiz.

Related life, live-word units: anima-; bio-; vita-; viva-.