-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.

argillicole (verb), argillicoles; argillicoled; argillicoling
To thrive or live in clay or mud: Black-eyed Susans, coneflowers and asters are just three plants that argillicole, or grow on clay.
argillicolous (adjective), more argillicolous, most argillicolous
avicole (verb), avicoles; avicoled; avicoling
Living on birds: Avicoles are parasites or organisms that obtain nutriments from these flying creatures.
avicolous (adjective), more avicolous, most avicolous
bryocole (verb), bryocoles; bryocoled; bryocoling: moss
Living on or in moss.
bryocoline (adjective), more bryocoline, most bryocoline
bryocolous (adjective), more bryocolous, most bryocolous
Characteristic of habitats that are rich in mosses or liverworts and where creatures live.
cadavericole (verb), cadavericoles; cadavericoled; cadavericoling: dead body
Inhabiting or living in a dead body; also eating dead bodies or carrion: "Max could see the maggots, cadavericoling a dead chicken's body by the side of the path as he was going for a walk."
cadavericolous (adjective), more cadavericolous, most cadavericolous
A descriptive term for organisms that live in and eat inside decomposing organic matter; such as dead bodies: "Maggots are examples of cadavericolous creatures that are found in decaying bodies."
calcicole (verb), calcicoles; calcicoled; calcicoling
Living in environments rich in calcium, in limestone, or in chalky soil.
calcicoline (adjective), more calcicoline, most calcicoline
calcicolous (adjective), more calcicolous, most calcicolous
Pertaining to plants or creatures living in soil that is rich in lime.
calcosaxicole (verb), calcosaxicoles; calcosaxicoled; calcosaxicoling
Inhabiting rocky limestone areas.
calcosaxicolous (adjective), more calcosaxicolous, most calcosaxicolous
caulicola (s) (noun), caulicolas (pl): fungi
Parasitic fungi that live on stems.

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-.