Phagotrophs

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Organisms that feed by surrounding and taking in solid food particles, such as bacteria or prey, into their cells or digestive cavities
2. Living things that consume food by enclosing solid matter within a membrane and digesting it internally, a process common among protists and some plants
3. Creatures or cells that obtain nourishment by swallowing whole particles of food rather than absorbing dissolved nutrients or making their own

Etymology: "Phagotrophs" is the plural of "phagotroph", an organism that feeds by engulfing and ingesting other organisms or particles. The word is built from two Greek elements: "phagein", meaning "to eat", and "trophos", meaning "feeder" or "one who nourishes". The "-troph" ending appears in many biological terms, such as "autotroph" (a self-feeder that makes its own food) and "heterotroph" (one that depends on others for food), so the group label fits into a familiar scientific pattern. Like most such terms, "phagotroph" is a modern scientific coinage built from classical Greek roots rather than a word used by the ancient Greeks themselves. Its sense is narrow and technical, applied mainly in biology to describe feeding strategies in organisms such as certain protists and bacteria that take in solid food particles.