autotroph

Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

  • noun Any organism that can synthesize its food from inorganic substances, using heat or light as a source of energy

Examples

  • M. jannaschii is an autotroph, meaning that it generates all its energy from inorganic substances.

    The God of Small Things

  • Thus, the species is an autotroph, meaning that it can obtain its own food from the conversion of light or chemical energy.

    CreationWiki - Recent changes [en]

  • A heterotroph is an organism that feeds off of another, or its byproducts (so both herbivores and carnivores), as opposed to an autotroph which produces its own energy from the environment (photosynthesis for example).

    Archive 2008-05-01

Note

The word 'autotroph' comes from the roots 'auto-' (self) and '-troph' (ultimately from a Greek root meaning 'nurse').