-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.

poocolous (adjective), more poocolous, most poocolous
potamicole (verb), potamicoles; potamicoled; potamicoling: river
To live or to thrive in rivers.

Some creatures that potamicole are the following:

  • Platypus, East Australia, Tasmania
potamicoline (adjective), more potamicoline, most potamicoline
Relating to creatures living or thriving in rivers.
potamicolous (adjective), more potamicolous, most potamicolous
pratinicole (verb), pratinicoles; pratinicoled; pratinicoling: grass, meadow
Living in grassland and meadowlands.
pratinicoline (adjective), more pratinicoline, most pratinicoline
pratinicolous (adjective), more pratinicolous, most pratinicolous
A reference to life in grasslands and meadowlands.
psamathocole (verb), psamathocoles; psamathocoled; psamathocoling: sand
Thriving in the strandline of a sandy seashore.

A strandline is a line on the shore that consists of debris that has been deposited by a receding tide; commonly used to indicate the line of debris at the level of extreme high water.

psammocole (verb), psammocoles; psammocoled; psammocoling
Living in sandy habitats: "There are organisms that psammocole or move through sand."
psicole (verb), psicoles; psicoled; psicoling: prairies
Dwelling in prairies or savannahs.
psicolous (adjective), more psicolous, most psicolous
psilicole (verb), psilicoles; psilicoled; psilicoling
Dwelling in prairie or savannah habitats.
psilicolous (adjective), more psilicolous, most psilicolous
psychrocole (verb), psychrocoles; psychrocoled; psychrocoling: cool
Existing in low temperatures.
psychrocolous (adjective), more psychrocolous, most psychrocolous
Referring to microorganisms that thrive and have an optimum growth below 20 degrees Centigrade.

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-.