— autophagic /aw'teuh faj"ik/ , adj.
/aw'teuh fay"jeuh, -jee euh/ , n. Physiol.
1. controlled digestion of damaged organelles within a cell.
2. the maintenance of bodily nutrition by the metabolic breakdown of some bodily tissues.
Also, autophagy /aw tof"euh jee/ .
[ AUTO- 1 + -PHAGIA ]