autophagia

Also au·toph·a·gy

[aw-tuh-fey-juh, -jee-uh]

noun

Physiology.

1. controlled digestion of damaged organelles within a cell.

2. the maintenance of bodily nutrition by the metabolic breakdown of some bodily tissues.

Other Word Forms

• autophagic adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of autophagia¹

auto- ¹ + -phagia