Definition of Saprophyte

1. Noun. An organism that feeds on dead organic matter especially a fungus or bacterium.

Exact synonyms: Saprophytic Organism
Generic synonyms: Being, Organism
Derivative terms: Saprophytic, Saprophytic

Definition of Saprophyte

1. n. Any plant growing on decayed animal or vegetable matter, as most fungi and some flowering plants with no green color, as the Indian pipe.

Definition of Saprophyte

1. Noun. Any organism that lives on dead organic matter, as certain fungi and bacteria. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Saprophyte

1. [n -S]

Medical Definition of Saprophyte

1. An organism whose nutrition involves uptake of dissolved organic material from decaying plant or animal matter. Origin: Gr. Phyton = plant This entry appears with permission from the Dictionary of Cell and Molecular Biology (11 Mar 2008)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Saprophyte

saprogenicities
saprogenicity
saprol
saprolite
saprolites
sapropel
sapropelic
sapropels
saprophagan
saprophage
saprophages
saprophagic
saprophagous
saprophagy
saprophilous
saprophyte (current term)
saprophytes
saprophytic
saprophytic organism
saprophytically
saprophytism
sapropterin
saprotroph
saprotrophic
saprotrophs
saproxanthin
saprozoic
saprozoonosis
saps
sapsago

Literary usage of Saprophyte

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Bacteria and Their Products by German Sims Woodhead (1891)
"... Bacillus a Facultative saprophyte—Conditions under which Tetanus is Contracted—Poisoned Arrows. TRAUMATIC tetanus, or convulsions resulting from ..."

2. Report on the Etiology and Prevention of Yellow Fever by George Miller Sternberg (1890)
"I am, therefore, of the opinion that this is some ordinary saprophyte which had effected a ... saprophyte ..."

3. Journal of the Sanitary Institute by Sanitary Institute (Great Britain) (1900)
"The Tubercle Bacillus ax a saprophyte," ly ARTHUR RANSOME, MD, FK'.S. As an outcome of some of his earliest researches, Dr. Koch pronounced the tubercle ..."

4. Problems in Botany by William Lewis Eikenberry (1919)
"A saprophyte; MOLD AS AN EXAMPLE Materials. Package of gelatin; petri dishes or glass sauce dishes with plates of glass for covers. ..."

5. Epidemiology and public health: a text and reference book for physicians by Victor Clarence Vaughan (1922)
"There might be some debate as to whether a microorganism which, so far as is known, grows and multiplies only in man's body, can be called a saprophyte. ..."

6. Bacteria and Their Products by German Sims Woodhead (1891)
"... Bacillus a Facultative saprophyte—Conditions under which Tetanus is Contracted—Poisoned Arrows. TRAUMATIC tetanus, or convulsions resulting from ..."

7. Report on the Etiology and Prevention of Yellow Fever by George Miller Sternberg (1890)
"I am, therefore, of the opinion that this is some ordinary saprophyte which had effected a ... saprophyte ..."

8. Journal of the Sanitary Institute by Sanitary Institute (Great Britain) (1900)
"The Tubercle Bacillus ax a saprophyte," ly ARTHUR RANSOME, MD, FK'.S. As an outcome of some of his earliest researches, Dr. Koch pronounced the tubercle ..."

9. Problems in Botany by William Lewis Eikenberry (1919)
"A saprophyte; MOLD AS AN EXAMPLE Materials. Package of gelatin; petri dishes or glass sauce dishes with plates of glass for covers. ..."

10. Epidemiology and public health: a text and reference book for physicians by Victor Clarence Vaughan (1922)
"There might be some debate as to whether a microorganism which, so far as is known, grows and multiplies only in man's body, can be called a saprophyte. ..."

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