SAPROPHYTE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does saprophyte mean? 

• SAPROPHYTE (noun)
  The noun SAPROPHYTE has 1 sense:

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

  Familiarity information: SAPROPHYTE used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SAPROPHYTE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting plants

Synonyms:

saprophyte; saprophytic organism

Hypernyms ("saprophyte" is a kind of...):

being; organism (a living thing that has (or can develop) the ability to act or function independently)

Derivation:

saprophytic ((of some plants or fungi) feeding on dead or decaying organic matter)

saprophytic (obtaining food osmotically from dissolved organic material)

 Context examples 

C. violaceum is found ubiquitously in nature as a saprophyte in soil and water indigenous to tropical regions and is a rare pathogen in humans.

(Chromobacterium violaceum, NCI Thesaurus)