Standard Lemma guide

heterotrophic

adj · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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  • CMU ARPABET: HH EH2 T ER0 AH0 T R AA1 F IH0 K Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Being a heterotroph.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Relating to heterotrophy.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

adjective

Meaning 3

requiring organic compounds of carbon and nitrogen for nourishment

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • most animals are heterotrophic

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: autotrophic

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *sem- Proto-Indo-European *sḿ̥teros Proto-Hellenic *hə́teros Ancient Greek ἕτερος (héteros)lbor. English hetero- Proto-Hellenic *thréphō Ancient Greek τρέφω (tréphō) Proto-Indo-European *-h2 Proto-Indo-European *-éh2 Ancient Greek -ᾱ (-ā) Ancient Greek -η (-ē) Ancient Greek τροφή (trophḗ) Proto-Indo-European *-kos Proto-Hellenic *-kos Ancient Greek -κός (-kós) Ancient Greek -ικός (-ikós) Ancient Greek τροφῐκός (trophĭkós)der. English -trophic English heterotrophic From hetero- + -trophic.

Across languages

Translations

10 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Danish: heterotrof — being a heterotroph
  • Estonian: heterotroofne — being a heterotroph
  • Finnish: toisenvarainen — being a heterotroph
  • Finnish: heterotrofinen — being a heterotroph
  • Indonesian: heterotrof — being a heterotroph
  • Irish: heitreatrófach — being a heterotroph
  • Italian: eterotrofo — being a heterotroph
  • Italian: eterotrofico — being a heterotroph
  • Polish: cudzożywny — being a heterotroph
  • Spanish: heterótrofo — being a heterotroph