Zoophages

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Organisms that consume animal life as their primary source of nutrition
2. Animals that engage in feeding upon other animals for sustenance
3. Creatures that derive energy and nutrients by preying on and eating other living animals

Etymology: "Zoophages" is the plural of "zoophage", a noun for an animal that eats other animals, and it is built from two Greek elements. The first, "zoo-", comes from Greek "zōion", meaning "animal", and the second, "-phage", comes from Greek "phagos", meaning "eating" or "eater". Put together, the parts say exactly what the word means: an eater of animals. The "-phage" ending is a productive suffix in scientific vocabulary, which is why it turns up in words like "bacteriophage" and "macrophage". Because it is a learned formation from classical roots, the word belongs to the technical register of biology and zoology rather than everyday speech, and it describes a dietary category rather than a single species.

Synonyms: carnivores, meat-eaters