autotroph: Meaning and Definition of

au•to•troph

Pronunciation: (ô'tu-trof", -trōf"), [key]
— n. Biol.
  1. any organism capable of self-nourishment by using inorganic materials as a source of nutrients and using photosynthesis or chemosynthesis as a source of energy, as most plants and certain bacteria and protists. Cf. heterotroph.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.
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