A comfortable or suitable role, job, or place for a person or thing. In biology, it means the specific role and space a species occupies in an ecosystem.
From French 'niche' meaning 'recess in a wall', from Old French 'nicher' meaning 'to nest', from Latin 'nidus' meaning 'nest'. The idea moved from a physical hollow to a figurative 'place that fits you'.
A niche is like your personal 'nest' in a complex system—where your skills or traits fit perfectly. In nature, two species cannot share exactly the same niche for long, which is why competition pushes them to specialize.
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