ingest

C2+ Topic:Food & Drink

US /ɪnˈdʒɛst/ UK /ɪnˈdʒɛst/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

verb
to take food, drink, or other substance into the body by swallowing or absorbing

The larvae ingest the algae that drift past on the current.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to take food, drink, or... consume swallow eat absorb imbibe devour

Opposites

excreteegestexpel

Word family

Derived forms ingestioningestibleingesta

Related forms digest congest gestureegest

Etymology

From Latin ingestus, past participle of ingerere ('to carry in, pour in'), from in- ('into') + gerere ('to carry, bear').

ingerere Latin gerere Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Food & Drink

External links

# ingest

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** /ɪnˈdʒɛst/
**IPA (UK):** /ɪnˈdʒɛst/

## Meanings
1. to take food, drink, or other substance into the body by swallowing or absorbing

## Examples
- The larvae ingest the algae that drift past on the current.

## Synonyms
- consume
- swallow
- eat
- absorb
- imbibe
- devour

## Antonyms
- excrete
- egest
- expel

## Derived Forms
- ingestion
- ingestible
- ingesta

## Related Forms
- digest
- congest
- gesture
- egest

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: ingerere
- Root: gerere

## Etymology
From Latin ingestus, past participle of ingerere ('to carry in, pour in'), from in- ('into') + gerere ('to carry, bear').

## AI Etymology
ingest comes from Latin ingestus, past participle of ingerere ('to carry in, pour in'), from in- ('into') + gerere ('to carry, bear'). Morphologically, the prefixed shape matters: the initial element belongs to the recorded formation and helps explain the modern form's surface analysis. In present English, the verb sense is "to take food, drink, or other substance into the body by swallowing or absorbing", so the historical development ends in a clearly identifiable modern dictionary use. The same base also appears in related forms such as digest, congest, gesture, and egest, and in derivatives such as ingestion, ingestible, and ingesta. Its semantic neighborhood includes consume, swallow, eat, and absorb, which helps locate the modern sense without adding a separate etymological claim. The named historical forms include Latin ingerere and Latin gerere.

## Topics
- Food & Drink

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