Word.ws English Dictionary

autophagy

US/ɔˈtɑfəd͡ʒi/

autophagy noun: the process of self-digestion by a cell through the action of enzymes originating within the same cell, and often a defensive or self-preservation measure.

Noun

autophagy (countable and uncountable, plural autophagies)

  1. The process of self-digestion by a cell through the action of enzymes originating within the same cell, and often a defensive or self-preservation measure.
    • Near-synonym: autocytolysis
    Synonyms:
    autocytolysis
  2. A type of programmed cell death accomplished through self-digestion.
  3. (rare) Self-consumption; the act of eating oneself.
    Synonyms:
    autocannibalism

autophagy meaning in Tamil, Bengali, Indonesian and Vietnamese

autophagy in Tamil

தன் விழுங்கல், தானேயுண்ணி, தன்னைத்தானுண்ணல், தன்னுண் உடைமை, தற்செறிமானம்

autophagy in Bengali

the process of self-digestion
আত্মভক্ষণ attobhokkhon, অটোফেজি oṭōpheji

autophagy in Indonesian

the process of self-digestion
autofagi

autophagy in Vietnamese

the process of self-digestion
tự thực, tự ăn mình

Synonyms of autophagy

Forms of autophagy

pluralautophagies

Origin of autophagy

From auto- + -phagy.

Words formed from autophagy

Questions about autophagy

What does autophagy mean?
Autophagy means the process of self-digestion by a cell through the action of enzymes originating within the same cell, and often a defensive or self-preservation measure.
What is autophagy in Tamil?
Autophagy in Tamil is தன் விழுங்கல், தானேயுண்ணி, தன்னைத்தானுண்ணல். See Autophagy meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is autophagy?
Autophagy is a noun.
How do you pronounce autophagy?
Autophagy is pronounced /ɔˈtɑfəd͡ʒi/ (US).
What is the plural of autophagy?
The plural of autophagy is autophagies.

Words near autophagy in the dictionary

  1. autophagosomally
  2. autophagosome
  3. autophagosomes
  4. autophagosomic
  5. autophagous
  6. autophagy
  7. autophanous
  8. autophile
  9. autophiles
  10. autophilia
  11. autophobia

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: autophagy (page history and authors); autophagy (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-autophagy.wav.

Cite this entry: “autophagy.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/autophagy. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.