Phagotroph

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An organism that feeds by ingesting and digesting solid particles, cells, or other organisms through a process of engulfment
2. A living thing that sustains itself by consuming and breaking down particulate matter or whole cells through ingestion
3. A creature that nourishes itself by taking in and metabolizing solid food particles or other organisms rather than absorbing dissolved nutrients

Etymology: "Phago" comes from the Greek "phagein," meaning "to eat," and "troph" from "trophē," meaning "nourishment" or "food." Ancient Greeks never used the compound. Biologists assembled it from these classical building blocks to name organisms that feed by engulfing solid food particles, such as bacteria, algae, or other small prey, and then digesting them inside the cell. The term is usually set against "osmotroph," an organism that absorbs dissolved nutrients directly through its surface. Both belong to a family of nutrition terms built on the same "-troph" ending, including "autotroph" (self-feeder, making its own food) and "heterotroph" (feeding on others). Many single-celled protists are phagotrophs, and some can switch between eating and absorbing depending on conditions.

Synonyms: heterotroph

Antonyms: autotroph