-phyte Also -phyta and -phytic.
A plant or plant-like organism.
[Greek phuton, a plant, from phuein, come into being.]
Words in -phyte divide into two classes. Some describe the way plants live; for example, epiphytes (Greek epi, upon) grow on other plants. Others refer to specific groups of plants; for example, bryophytes (Greek bruon, moss) are members of a group that comprises the mosses and liverworts.
Members of the latter set are often linked to systematic names for groups that end in -phyta (from the Greek plural form phuta, plants). Two instances are Chlorophyta (Greek khlōros, green), a division of lower plants that comprises the green algae, and Pteridophyta (Greek pteris, pterid-, fern), a division of flowerless green plants that comprises the ferns and their relatives.
A less obvious member of the set is neophyte, a person who is new to a subject, skill, or belief; this is literally a person ‘newly planted’ (Greek neos, new), whose figurative sense derives from St. Paul's use of it for a new convert.
Terms ending in -phyte have associated adjectives in -phytic: epiphytic, saprophytic, xerophytic.
Examples of words in -phyte
Word origins are from Greek unless otherwise stated.
| bryophyte | a division of small flowerless green plants which comprises the mosses and liverworts | bruon, moss |
| charophyte | a division of lower plants that includes the stoneworts | Latin Chara, a plant of uncertain identity |
| dermatophyte | a pathogenic fungus that grows on skin, mucous membranes, hair, nails, feathers, and other body surfaces, causing ringworm and related diseases | derma, dermat-, skin, hide |
| endophyte | a plant, especially a fungus, which lives inside another plant | endon, within |
| epiphyte | a plant that grows on another plant, especially one that is not parasitic | epi, upon |
| gametophyte | the gamete-producing phase of a plant with alternating generations | English gamete |
| geophyte | a plant propagated by means of underground buds | gē, earth |
| halophyte | a plant adapted to growing in saline conditions, as in a salt marsh | hals, halo-, salt |
| hydrophyte | a plant which grows only in or on water | hudōr, water |
| macrophyte | a plant, especially an aquatic plant, large enough to be seen by the naked eye | makros, long, large |
| osteophyte | a bony outgrowth associated with the degeneration of cartilage at joints | osteon, bone |
| saprophyte | a plant, fungus, or micro-organism that lives on dead or decaying organic matter | sapros, putrid |
| sporophyte | the asexual phase of plants with alternating generations | spora, spore |
| xerophyte | a plant which needs very little water | xēros, dry |
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