Ingestors

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A being or entity that consumes or takes in substances or materials for sustenance
2. an organism that ingests food or nutrients necessary for life
3. an agent or mechanism that absorbs or assimilates elements from the environment for growth or energy

Etymology: "Ingestors" is the plural of "ingestor," a noun for an organism that takes in food or nutrients necessary for life. The singular is built from the verb "ingest," which comes from Latin "ingestus," the past participle of "ingerere," meaning "to carry or pour into." The Latin verb joins "in-," meaning "into," with "gerere," meaning "to carry" or "to bear," so the underlying sense is of something being carried inward. The "-or" ending marks the noun as the agent, the thing that performs the action, so an ingestor is literally a thing that does the ingesting. Because the word is a plural of a technical coinage, its use is mostly confined to biology and ecology, where it sorts organisms by how they feed.

Synonyms: consumers, eaters, devourers