(of organisms such as green plants) capable of manufacturing complex organic nutritive compounds from simple inorganic sources such as carbon dioxide, water, and nitrates, using energy from the sun
Compare heterotrophic
Derived forms
autotroph (ˈɔːtətrəʊf)
noun
autotrophic in American English
(ˌɔtoʊˈtrɑfɪk)
adjective
making its own food by photosynthesis, as a green plant does, or by chemosynthesis, as any of certain bacteria do