The Collaborative International Dictionary
Autotrophic \Au`to*troph"ic\, a. [Auto- + trophic.] (Plant Physiol.) Capable of self-nourishment; requiring only minerals for growth; using carbonate or carbon dioxide as a source of carbon and simple inorganic nitrogen as a nitrogen source; -- said of all plants in which photosynthetic activity takes place, and certain bacteria. It is opposed to parasitism or saprophytism.
2. of or pertaining to an autotroph.
Wiktionary
a. (context biology English) Of or pertaining to the production of organic compounds from carbon dioxide as a carbon source, using either light or reactions of inorganic chemical compounds, as a source of energy.
WordNet
adj. of or relating to organisms (as green plants) that can make complex organic nutritive compounds from simple inorganic sources by photosynthesis [syn: autophytic] [ant: heterotrophic]
Usage examples of "autotrophic".
Fourteen species of autotrophic nannoflagellates, twenty heterotrophic flagellates, forty heterotrophic dinoflagellates, and several metazoans, including polychaetes, amphipods, copepods, euphausids, and fish.
Not only had he survived the massive change, but he was now nearly fully autotrophic, yet still basically human.