detritivore
Syllables: de·tri·ti·vore/dɛˈtɹaɪtɪvɔː/US/dəˈtɹaɪtəvɔɹ/
detritivore noun: an organism that feeds on detritus.
Noun
detritivore (plural detritivores)
- An organism that feeds on detritus.
- Termites are herbivores and detritivores variously involved in the comminution and decomposition of vegetable matter, through most of the warm temperate and tropical zones.1978, J. P. La Fage, W. L. Nutting, “Nutrient Dynamics of Termites”, in M. V. Brian, editor, Production Ecology of Ants and Termites (International Biological Programme; 13), Cambridge; New York...
- If one has sound data for microbial biomass dynamics in decaying litter, along with identities of the decomposer fungi, then one can make useful projections and hypotheses regarding nutrient flow, environmental controls on decay rates, and potential detritivore production founded upon basic...1992, Steven Y. Newell, “Estimating Fungal Biomass and Productivity in Decomposing Litter”, in George C. Carroll, Donald T. Wicklow, editors, The Fungal Community: Its Organization and Role in the...
- Synonyms:
- detritophage, detrivore, saprophage
detritivore meaning in Malay, Indonesian, Persian and Thai
detritivore in Malay
- organism that feeds on detritus
- detritivor
detritivore in Indonesian
- organism that feeds on detritus
- detritivor
detritivore in Persian
- organism that feeds on detritus
- پودهخوار
detritivore in Thai
- organism that feeds on detritus
- ผู้บริโภคซากพืชซากสัตว์, ผู้บริโภคซากอินทรีย์
More languagesFewer languages
- detritivore in Vietnamese
- ăn mùn bã
Examples of detritivore in a sentence
- Fish are represented at several trophic levels in aquatic systems, from detritivore and herbivore to carnivore.1992, S. J. Ormerod, “Effects on Aquatic Ecosystems”, in M[iroslav] Radojević, R[oy] M. Harrison, editors, Atmospheric Acidity: Sources...
- Others are detritivores (i.e. they feed off organic detritus), such as some pteropods.2014, Louis Legendre, “Pelagic Marine Ecosystems and Biogeochemical Cycles”, in André Monaco, Patrick Prouzet, editors, Ecosystem...
Synonyms of detritivore
Forms of detritivore
| plural | detritivores |
|---|
Origin of detritivore
From German Detritivore, from Latin dētrītus (“the act of rubbing away”) (from dēterō (“to rub away, to rub off, to wear out”), from dē- (“away; down”) + terō (“to rub; to wear away, to wear out”), from Proto-Indo-European *terh₁- (“to rub, to rub by twisting; to twist, to turn”)) + Latin vorāre (from vorō (“to devour, to eat greedily; to swallow up”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʷerh₃- (“to devour”)). Analyzable as detritus + -i- + -vore.
Words formed from detritivore
Questions about detritivore
- What does detritivore mean?
- Detritivore means an organism that feeds on detritus.
- What is detritivore in Malay?
- Detritivore in Malay is detritivor. See Detritivore meaning in Malay.
- How do you use detritivore in a sentence?
- Fish are represented at several trophic levels in aquatic systems, from detritivore and herbivore to carnivore.
- What part of speech is detritivore?
- Detritivore is a noun.
- How do you pronounce detritivore?
- Detritivore is pronounced /dɛˈtɹaɪtɪvɔː/ (UK).
- What is the plural of detritivore?
- The plural of detritivore is detritivores.
Words near detritivore in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: detritivore (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-detritivore.wav.
Cite this entry: “detritivore.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/detritivore. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.