1. a person who believes in or advocates for mutualism, a political and economic theory emphasizing mutual cooperation and reciprocal exchange
Usage: political theory
2. an organism that participates in a mutually beneficial relationship with another species
Usage: biology

Examples

• The mutualist argued that voluntary cooperation was superior to government regulation.
• Pierre-Joseph Proudhon was a famous mutualist philosopher in 19th-century France.
• The bee acts as a mutualist when it pollinates flowers while gathering nectar.
• Cleaner fish are mutualists that remove parasites from larger fish.
• The mutualist movement promoted worker-owned cooperatives and mutual aid societies.
• In the forest ecosystem, mycorrhizal fungi serve as mutualists to tree roots.