chemosynthesis
noun
che·mo·syn·the·sis ˌkē-mō-ˈsin(t)-thə-səs 
: synthesis of organic compounds (as in living cells) by energy derived from inorganic chemical reactions
chemosynthetic
ˌkē-mō-sin-ˈthe-tik
adjective 
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web But these bacteria devour sulfides to generate energy in a process known as chemosynthesis. 
Sumeet Kulkarni, Los Angeles Times, 23 June 2022 Analysis showed that these organisms were performing chemosynthesis – creating energy from chemicals in the seawater, in complete darkness. Suzanne Oconnell, The Conversation, 22 June 2021 Unlike surface life, which requires the sun’s light to survive, these life forms lived off the chemical energy in these super-hot toxic plumes—a process called chemosynthesis. James Nestor, Scientific American, 12 Feb. 2018 Researchers realized that there are microbes that, instead of using light to grow, use chemicals from the rocks at hydrothermal vents in a process called chemosynthesis. Eva Botkin-kowacki, The Christian Science Monitor, 23 Aug. 2019 These chimney-like structures allow tube worms, clams, mussels, and other organisms to survive not via photosynthesis but chemosynthesis, in which microbes convert chemicals released by the vents into energy. Paul Chesley, National Geographic, 21 Mar. 2019
Sumeet Kulkarni, Los Angeles Times, 23 June 2022 Analysis showed that these organisms were performing chemosynthesis – creating energy from chemicals in the seawater, in complete darkness. Suzanne Oconnell, The Conversation, 22 June 2021 Unlike surface life, which requires the sun’s light to survive, these life forms lived off the chemical energy in these super-hot toxic plumes—a process called chemosynthesis. James Nestor, Scientific American, 12 Feb. 2018 Researchers realized that there are microbes that, instead of using light to grow, use chemicals from the rocks at hydrothermal vents in a process called chemosynthesis. Eva Botkin-kowacki, The Christian Science Monitor, 23 Aug. 2019 These chimney-like structures allow tube worms, clams, mussels, and other organisms to survive not via photosynthesis but chemosynthesis, in which microbes convert chemicals released by the vents into energy. Paul Chesley, National Geographic, 21 Mar. 2019 Word History
Etymology
chemo- + synthesis, after German Chemosynthese
Note: The German term was probably introduced by the botanist and plant physiologist Wilhelm Pfeffer (1845-1920) in Pflanzenphysiologie: Ein Handbuch der Lehre von Stoffwechsel und Kraftwechsel in der Pflanze, 2. völlig umgearbeitete Auflage, 1. Band (1897), p. 273.
First Known Use
1900, in the meaning defined above
Medical Definition
chemosynthesis
noun
che·mo·syn·the·sis -ˈsin(t)-thə-səs
plural chemosyntheses
: synthesis of organic compounds (as in living cells) by energy derived from inorganic chemical reactions