bacteriophage or, phage

Term: bacteriophage or, phage

Literally meaning: “bacteria eater”

Origin: Anc Greek

βακτήριον/bacterion(=bacterium) > βακτηρία/bacteria (=rod, stick) because the first ones observed were rod-shaped.

φάγος/phagos(=eater) > έφαγον/ephagon(=indefinite tense of verb "εσθίω"/esthio(eat, devour)

Coined/History

In 1915, British bacteriologist Frederick Twort, discovered a small agent that infected and killed bacteria. Independently, French-Canadian microbiologist Felix d’Herelle, working at the Pasteur Institute in Paris, announced in 1917, that he had discovered "an invisible, antagonistic microbe of the dysentery bacillus". D'Hérelle coined the term bacteriophage, meaning “bacteria eater,” to describe the agent's bacteriocidal ability.  Definition

Bacteriophage (or shortly phage) is virus that affects bacteria.