Meaning

noun eating earth, clay, chalk; occurs in some primitive tribes, sometimes in cases of nutritional deficiency or obsessive behavior

originEtymology 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- Ancient Greek ἔφαγον (éphagon) Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-i-eh₂ Proto-Hellenic *-íā Ancient Greek -ίᾱ (-íā) Ancient Greek -φᾰγίᾱ (-phăgíā)lbor. English -phagy English geophagy…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0