macroautophagy

M3A1C3R1O1A1U1T1O1P3H4A1G2Y4

noun

A form of autophagy in which a membrane (the phagophore) forms around the material to be digested before it fuses with the lysosome

OriginEnglish autophagy ← French macro- ← Ancient Greek μᾰκρός (măkrós) →
Scrabble 27
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounmacroautophagy (uncountable)
  1. uncountablebiologyA form of autophagy in which a membrane (the phagophore) forms around the material to be digested before it fuses with the lysosome

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*meh₂ḱ-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*mh₂ḱrós
  3. Proto-Hellenic*makrós
  4. Ancient Greekμᾰκρός (măkrós)
  5. Frenchmacro-
  6. Englishmacro-
  7. Englishautophagy
  8. Englishmacroautophagy

From macro- + autophagy.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

macroautophagy. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/macroautophagy

MLA

“macroautophagy.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/macroautophagy. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “macroautophagy,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/macroautophagy.

Source: macroautophagy on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.