Phage
/feɪdʒ/noun
A virus that infects and reproduces inside bacteria.
Did you know?Phage comes from Greek phagein, “to eat/devour,” and the same root also gave us words like symphony’s “-phagous” endings in biology, where organisms are literally named by what they consume.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*bʰeh₂gʰ-
“to eat, devour”
Ancient Greek
Greek
phagein (φαγεῖν)
“to eat, devour”
Ancient Greek
Greek
-phagos / -phage
“eating, devouring; eater”
Late 19th Century
French/English
phage
“an eater; later, a virus that eats bacteria”
Modern English
English
phage
“a bacteriophage, a virus that infects bacteria”
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