holophytic

American

[hol-uh-fit-ik, hoh-luh-] / ˌhɒl əˈfɪt ɪk, ˌhoʊ lə- /

adjective

(of a plant) obtaining energy by synthesizing inorganic substances; autotrophic.

holophytic British

/ ˈhɒləˌfaɪt, ˌhɒləˈfɪtɪk /

adjective

(of plants) capable of synthesizing their food from inorganic molecules, esp by photosynthesis

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

holophyte noun

Etymology

Origin of holophytic

1880–85; holo- + -phytic; -phyte, -ic

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Contractile vacuoles 1-3, a complex of variable arrangement; pellicle delicate; plastids discoid chlorophyll-bodies; reserves oil; eye-spot absent even in active state; holophytic or saprophytic, though with an anterior blind tubular depression simulating a pharynx.

From Project Gutenberg

It is easy to understand the relation of the saprophytic and the holophytic Flagellates to true plants.

From Project Gutenberg

In the active condition of such coloured holophytic forms there is usually at least one anterior “eye-spot,” of a refractive globule embedded behind in a collection of red pigment granules.

From Project Gutenberg

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023