Trichophagia
/ˌtrɪk.oʊˈfeɪ.dʒi.ə/noun
The compulsive eating of hair, a behavior associated with trichotillomania and sometimes causing intestinal hairballs.
Did you know?Severe trichophagia can produce a trichobezoar, a compact mass of swallowed hair; the condition is often linked with trichotillomania, compulsive hair-pulling.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*der-
“A reconstructed root associated with splitting or flaying, proposed as a distant source for Greek terms connected with skin and hair; the exact pathway is debated.”
Ancient Greek
Greek
θρίξ (thríx), τρίχος (tríkhos)
“Hair; the genitive form τρίχος supplied the combining form trich-.”
Ancient Greek
Greek
φαγεῖν (phageîn)
“To eat or consume.”
19th Century
Scientific Greek
trichophagia
“A medical formation combining trich- (“hair”) with -phagia (“eating”).”
Modern English
English
trichophagia
“Compulsive or pathological hair-eating, especially in clinical psychiatry and medicine.”
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