1690s, "eating to excess," medical Latin, from Greek polyphagia "excess in eating," from polyphagos "eating to excess," from polys "much" (see poly-) + phagein "to eat" (see -phagous). Attested from 1890 in sense "feeding on various kinds of food." Nativized as polyphagy. Related: Polyphagic; polyphagous.[polyphagia etymology, polyphagia origin, 英语词源]