word-forming element meaning "eater," from stem of Greek phagein "to eat," from PIE root *bhag- "to share out, apportion; to get a share."
Entries linking to -phage
*bhag-
Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to share out, apportion; to get a share."
It forms all or part of: aphagia; Bhagavad-Gita; baksheesh; esophagus; nebbish; pagoda; -phage; phago-; -phagous; porgy; sarcophagus.
It is the hypothetical source of/evidence for its existence is provided by: Sanskrit bhajati "assigns, allots, apportions, enjoys, loves," bhagah "allotter, distributor, master, lord," bhaksati "eats, drinks, enjoys;" Persian bakhshidan "to give;" Greek phagein "to eat," literally "to have a share of food;" Old Church Slavonic bogatu "rich."
bacteriophage n.
"virus that parasitizes a bacterium by infecting it and reproducing inside it," 1921, from French bactériophage (1917), from bacterio-, combining form of bacteria, + -phage.