phage

¹ American  

[feyj] / feɪdʒ /

noun

1. bacteriophage.

---

-phage ² American  

Also -phag.

1. a combining form meaning “a thing that devours,” used in the formation of compound words, especially the names of phagocytes.

   macrophage.

---

-phage ¹ British  

combining form

1. indicating something that eats or consumes something specified

   bacteriophage

---

phage ² British  

/ feɪdʒ /

noun

1. short for bacteriophage

---

Usage

What does -phage mean? The combining form -phage is used like a suffix meaning “a thing that devours.” It is used in many scientific terms, especially in biology. The form -phage ultimately comes from the Greek phageîn, meaning “to eat, devour.” This Greek root also helps form the word esophagus. Discover the connection at our entry for the word. The word phage, referring to a bacteriophage, is a shortened or independent use of the combining form -phageClosely related to -phage are -phagia, -phagy, and -phagous. Their corresponding form combined to the beginning of words is phago-. Learn more about their specific applications at our Words That Use articles for the forms.

Other Word Forms

• -phagous combining form

Etymology

Origin of phage¹

By shortening, or independent use of -phage

Origin of -phage²

Noun use of Greek -phagos -phagous

Example Sentences

In 2023, the team reported in Science on φX174, a phage with a long research history at Caltech.

From Science Daily • Feb. 28, 2026

The researchers also discovered that elements of their active genetic system can be transported by bacteriophage, or phage, viruses that naturally infect bacteria.

From Science Daily • Feb. 18, 2026

NEB scientists first optimized the method using a well-studied model virus, Escherichia coli phage T7.

From Science Daily • Jan. 21, 2026

These changes allowed the researchers to swap tail fiber genes to change which bacteria the phage could infect and to add fluorescent markers that made infections visible in real time.

From Science Daily • Jan. 21, 2026

Even more important, I did not want to be away during the forthcoming International Poliomyelitis Conference, which was to bring several phage workers to Copenhagen.

From "Double Helix" by James D. Watson