Saprophyte

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈsæpɹəʊfaɪt/

Definitions

1. A type of organism that gains nutrients by decomposing dead organic substances
2. An organism that obtains its nourishment by breaking down and absorbing nutrients from dead or decaying organic material
3. A life form that derives energy and food by decomposing non-living organic substances

Etymology: The key surprise is that "saprophyte" is a deliberate modern coinage built from Greek pieces, and its first half, "sapro-", comes from the Greek "sapros", meaning "putrid" or "rotten". The second half, "-phyte", comes from "phyton", meaning "plant" or "growth", the same root behind words like "epiphyte" and "phytoplankton". Put together, the name describes a plant that lives on rot rather than sunlight. The irony is that the word joins a term for decay with a term for plants, yet the organisms it names are often fungi and bacteria, which botanists once classed as plants and which the word still labels as "phytes". The word therefore preserves an older scientific habit of grouping all non-animal life under plants, even though the organisms it describes do not photosynthesise at all.

Synonyms: decomposer, fungus, mold, bacteria, detritivore