heterotrophic

American  

[het-er-uh-trof-ik, -troh-fik] / ˌhɛt ər əˈtrɒf ɪk, -ˈtroʊ fɪk /

adjective

Biology.

1. capable of utilizing only organic materials as a source of food.

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heterotrophic British  

/ ˌhɛtərəʊˈtrɒfɪk /

adjective

1. (of organisms, such as animals) obtaining carbon for growth and energy from complex organic compounds Compare autotrophic

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Other Word Forms

• heterotroph noun

Etymology

Origin of heterotrophic

First recorded in 1890–95; hetero- + -trophic

Explanation

In biology, anything heterotrophic eats other animals or plants, rather than making its own food. Unless your cat can synthesize its own nutrients from sunlight, Mr. Flufferpants is heterotrophic. Because you don't fulfill your nutritional requirements through photosynthesis, instead eating plants (and animals, unless you're a vegetarian), you are heterotrophic. Animals, some fungi, and some bacteria are described this way, because they can't create energy from sunlight or chemical reactions. The term heterotrophic comes from hetero-, "other or different," and trophe, "nutrition."

Example Sentences

The researchers involved in the current study used the results of those surveys, which focused on the English Channel and Scottish coast, to investigate six groups of tiny plankton including two groups of heterotrophic bacteria.

From Science Daily • Feb. 5, 2024

Animals are multicellular, heterotrophic, eukaryotic organisms with cells that lack cell walls.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2018

Members of the kingdom Animalia are multicellular and heterotrophic, and lack cell walls.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2018

Some plants, however, are heterotrophic: they are totally parasitic and lacking in chlorophyll.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2015

It is obvious that the metabolic processes of the autotrophic plants are very different from those of the heterotrophic type of plants.

From The Chemistry of Plant Life by Thatcher, Roscoe Wilfred