Link Centre Dictionary

phage

UK/feɪd͡ʒ/ US/ˈfeɪdʒ/ uncommon

noun

1.

a virus that is parasitic in bacteria; it uses the bacterium''s machinery and energy to produce more phage until the bacterium is destroyed and phage is released to invade surrounding bacteria

Origin

Clipping of bacteriophage from bacterio- (“bacteria”) + -phage (“eater”); latter suffix from Ancient Greek -φάγος (-phágos, “eater”), from φαγ- (phag-), aorist stem of ἐσθίω (esthíō) or ἔδω (édō, “to eat, to consume”). Stem φαγ- (phag-) may also derive from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂g- (“to divide, distribute”) thus ultimately doublet of bhakti (via Sanskrit भक्ति (bhakti, “portion, division”) from root भज् (bhaj, “to divide, to apportion”)).

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.