Standard Lemma guide
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.
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noun
The practice of eating earthy substances such as clay and chalk, often during famines or thought to augment a mineral-deficient diet.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
eating earth, clay, chalk; occurs in some primitive tribes, sometimes in cases of nutritional deficiency or obsessive behavior
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: geophagia
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: pica
History
Etymology tree Pre-Greek der. Proto-Hellenic *gayader. Ancient Greek γαῖᾰ (gaîă)clip. Ancient Greek γῆ (gê) Ancient Greek -ο- (-o-) Ancient Greek γεω- (geō-)der. English geo- Proto-Indo-European *bheh2g- Proto-Indo-European *bhh2g-der. Ancient Greek ἔφᾰγον (éphăgon) Proto-Indo-European *-h2 Proto-Indo-European *-éh2 Proto-Indo-European *-i-eh2 Proto-Hellenic *-íā Ancient Greek -ῐ́ᾱ (-ĭ́ā) Ancient Greek -φᾰγίᾱ (-phăgíā)lbor. English -phagy English geophagy From geo- + -phagy.
