Phage is a noun referring to a virus that infects bacteria. It is used in microbiology to describe bacteriophages, which attach to bacterial cells, inject genetic material, and hijack their replication machinery for viral production. Phages are studied for their roles in bacterial ecology and as potential tools in phage therapy.
"Researchers isolated a novel phage that targets antibiotic-resistant bacteria."
"Phages are often used as a model system to study viral infection in bacteria."
"The phage therapy trials showed promise in treating localized infections."
"A recent review discusses the co-evolution of bacteria and their phages in microbial communities."
The word phage comes from the Greek word phagein, meaning 'to eat' or 'to devour'. The term was adopted in the early 20th century during the discovery of bacteriophages by Frederick Twort (1915) and Félix d'Hérelle (1917). The root phag- relates to eating or consuming, reflecting the phage's biological role of injecting its genetic material into a bacterial cell and commandeering its machinery to produce more phages. In English, phage is typically used as a noun or as a modifier in phrases like 'bacteriophage.' Historically, the name evolved from early observational descriptions of viruses that seemed to destroy bacteria, to a precise classification within virology as specialists distinguished bacteriophages from other viral types. The usage expanded with molecular biology advances, and 'phage therapy' emerged as a potential alternative to antibiotics in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, parallel to the broader study of phage biology in microbial ecosystems.
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Words that rhyme with "Phage"
-age sounds
Practice with these rhyming pairs to improve your pronunciation consistency:
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Phage is pronounced as /feɪdʒ/. It rhymes with 'stage' and 'page.' Place the voice at the start with a long diphthong 'f-AY' followed by a voiced postalveolar affricate 'dʒ' (the sound in 'judge'). The mouth starts open with the /f/ fricative, glides to /eɪ/ then ends with /dʒ/. Stress is on the only syllable. If you want an audio cue, listen to standard dictionaries or science lectures that say 'phage' in one smooth beat.
Common errors include mispronouncing the ending as /d/ or /j/ alone, producing 'fade' or 'fage' without the /dʒ/ blend, and misplacing the vowel as a shorter /e/ like 'fed'. To correct, ensure you glide from /eɪ/ into /dʒ/ in one transition, keeping the /dʒ/ sound as in 'chef' plus 'age' blended together. Practice by saying 'stage' slowly and then replace its final /tʒ/ with /dʒ/ while maintaining breath flow.
Across US/UK/AU, the vowel stays a long 'a' /eɪ/, and the final /dʒ/ remains consistent. The main variation can be subtle in vowel quality: US speakers may have a slightly tenser /eɪ/; UK speakers may exhibit a tighter diphthong; Australian often reduces vowel duration slightly and maintains rhoticity by context, though 'phage' itself is not a strongly rhotic word. Overall, you will hear /feɪdʒ/ in all three, with minimal regional differences.
The difficulty lies in the final /dʒ/ cluster, which many non-native speakers misrender as /ʒ/ or /dʒ/ separate rather than a single affricate. Additionally, the long diphthong /eɪ/ requires controlled jaw movement to avoid a clipped vowel. Practicing with minimal pairs that contrast /feɪdʒ/ with other endings helps; focus on a smooth transition from /eɪ/ to /dʒ/.
Watch for the single-syllable structure and the final affricate. The tip is to connect /eɪ/ directly into /dʒ/ without inserting a separate consonant. Use a quick, clean lip rounding to keep the /dʒ/ intact. Practicing by mirroring the word 'stage' while adding a brief, precise 'd' onset before /ʒ/ helps cement the /dʒ/ sound.
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