phage

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phage

/feɪd͡ʒ/

Rhymes with -eɪdʒ

Where it comes from

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”)).

noun phages · phage

A virus that is parasitic on bacteria. "The plural word phages refers to different types of phage, whereas in common usage the word phage can be both singular and plural, referring in the plural sense to particles of the same type of phage." Maloy et al: Microbial Genetics, 2nd ed., 1984, →ISBN, p. 81
Similar: bacteriophage

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MLA

"phage." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/phage. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

phage. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/phage

Chicago

"phage." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/phage.

BibTeX

@misc{phage_2026,
  title = {phage},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/phage},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}