Standard Lemma guide

detritivore

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /dɛˈtɹaɪtɪvɔː/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /-ˈtɹɪ-/
  • General-American: /dəˈtɹaɪtəvɔɹ/
  • General-American: /-ˈtɹɪ-/
  • General-American: /-ɾə-/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

An organism that feeds on detritus.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: biology, ecology, natural-sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: detritophage, detrivore, saprophage

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From German Detritivore, from Latin dētrītus (“the act of rubbing away”) (from dēterō (“to rub away, to rub off, to wear out”), from dē- (“away; down”) + terō (“to rub; to wear away, to wear out”), from Proto-Indo-European *terh1- (“to rub, to rub by twisting; to twist, to turn”)) + Latin vorāre (from vorō (“to devour, to eat greedily; to swallow up”), from Proto-Indo-European *gwerh3- (“to devour”)). Analyzable as detritus + -i- + -vore.

Across languages

Translations

26 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: detritívor — organism that feeds on detritus
  • Czech: detritovor — organism that feeds on detritus
  • Czech: detritofág — organism that feeds on detritus
  • Czech: rozkladač — organism that feeds on detritus
  • Dutch: detrivoor — organism that feeds on detritus
  • French: détritivore — organism that feeds on detritus
  • Galician: detritívoro — organism that feeds on detritus
  • German: Detritivore — organism that feeds on detritus
  • German: Detritusfresser — organism that feeds on detritus
  • Hungarian: törmelékevő — organism that feeds on detritus
  • Icelandic: grotætur — organism that feeds on detritus
  • Indonesian: detritivor — organism that feeds on detritus
  • Italian: detritivoro — organism that feeds on detritus
  • Malay: detritivor — organism that feeds on detritus
  • Norwegian Bokmål: detrivore — organism that feeds on detritus
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: detrivore — organism that feeds on detritus
  • Persian: پودهخوار — organism that feeds on detritus
  • Polish: detrytusożerca — organism that feeds on detritus
  • Russian: детритофа́г (detritofág) — organism that feeds on detritus
  • Serbo-Croatian: detritivor — organism that feeds on detritus
  • Spanish: detritívoro — organism that feeds on detritus
  • Spanish: detritívora — organism that feeds on detritus
  • Thai: ผู้บริโภคซากพืชซากสัตว์ — organism that feeds on detritus
  • Thai: ผู้บริโภคซากอินทรีย์ — organism that feeds on detritus
  • Ukrainian: детритофа́г (detrytofáh) — organism that feeds on detritus
  • Vietnamese: ăn mùn bã — organism that feeds on detritus