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prophage

American  
[proh-feyj] / ˈproʊˌfeɪdʒ /

noun

Microbiology.

  1. a stable, inherited form of bacteriophage in which the genetic material of the virus is integrated into, replicated, and expressed with the genetic material of the bacterial host.

prophage British  
/ ˈprəʊfeɪdʒ /

noun

  1. a virus that exists in a bacterial cell and undergoes division with its host without destroying it Compare bacteriophage

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of prophage

1950–55; shortening of French probactériophage; pro- 1, bacteriophage

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.