Etymology

phage

P3H4A1G2E1

Today it means: A virus that is parasitic on bacteria. Full definition →

Ancient Greek -φάγος
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The story

  1. Ancient Greek · derived from-φάγος“eater”
  2. English todayphage

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”)).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.