Autotrophic

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Autotrophic \Au`to*troph"ic\, a. [Auto- + trophic.] (Plant
     Physiol.)
     Capable of self-nourishment; requiring only minerals for
     growth; using carbonate or carbon dioxide as a source of
     carbon and simple inorganic nitrogen as a nitrogen source; --
     said of all plants in which photosynthetic activity takes


     place, and certain bacteria. It is opposed to parasitism or
     saprophytism.
     [Webster 1913 Suppl. + WordNet 1.5]
  
     2. of or pertaining to an autotroph.
        [WordNet 1.5]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  autotrophic
       adj : of or relating to organisms (as green plants) that can make
             complex organic nutritive compounds from simple
             inorganic sources by photosynthesis [syn: {autophytic}]
             [ant: {heterotrophic}]