autophagia
|au-to-pha-gi-a|
/ˌɔːtəˈfeɪdʒə/
self-eating
Etymology
'autophagia' originates from Greek, specifically from the word 'autophagía', where 'auto-' meant 'self' and 'phagein' meant 'to eat'.
'autophagia' passed into New Latin/Medieval Latin as 'autophagia' and was adopted into English in a medical/technical sense without major change, becoming the modern English word 'autophagia'.
Initially, it meant 'self-eating', and over time this core idea has remained, while the term has been applied both to observable self-cannibalistic behavior and, in scientific contexts, to cellular self-digestion processes.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
the act or practice of eating one's own flesh or body parts; self-cannibalism or self-mutilation by biting/consuming parts of one’s own body.
Several case reports describe autophagia in neglected animals that gnawed at their own limbs.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Noun 2
(Medical/biological usage, less common) The process by which a cell or organism digests its own components; occasionally used synonymously with 'autophagy'.
In some older texts, autophagia is used to refer to the cellular recycling process now commonly called autophagy.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Last updated: 2025/11/27 15:18