Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun An organism capable of synthesizing its own food from inorganic substances, using light or chemical energy. Green plants, algae, and certain bacteria are autotrophs.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun an organism which is autotrophic, i. e., an organism (such as most plants and certain microorganisms) which are capable of synthesizing its own food from simple organic substances, requiring only minerals as nutrients for growth, and using carbonate or carbon dioxide as a source of carbon and simple inorganic nitrogen as a nitrogen source; the energy required is derived from photosynthesis or chemosynthesis. Opposed to heterotroph. See also auxotroph.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

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

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun plant capable of synthesizing its own food from simple organic substances

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

auto- + -troph

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Examples

Comments

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  • I checked it out on Wikipedia

    And other reliable media

    So safely I'll scoff

    At the smug autotroph

    Extolling the joys of inedia.

    See also breatharian and comments at photovore.

    September 9, 2016

  • Useful superpower.

    July 4, 2022