Phagist

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An organism that feeds on a specific type of substance or organism
2. one that consumes or engulfs material through phagocytosis
3. an entity known for its feeding behavior characterized by the ingestion of other living entities or organic matter

Etymology: The "phag-" in this word comes from the Greek verb "phagein," meaning "to eat." Greek speakers used it in everyday terms, and it still shows up in English words that have nothing to do with dinner. A "sarcophagus," for example, was named from "sarkophagos," "flesh-eating," because a particular kind of limestone was believed to consume the body placed inside it. The "-ist" ending is the Greek agent suffix "-istes," which marks a person or thing that does or practises something. Attaching it to the "eat" root gives a term for something that eats, and English has long used the pattern in this way for words like "soloist" and "cellist." The same root also appears in "esophagus," the passage that carries food from mouth to stomach, and in "phagocyte," a cell that engulfs and digests particles.

Synonyms: eater, consumer