The Collaborative International Dictionary
Photosynthesis \Pho`to*syn"the*sis\, n. (Plant Physiol.) The process of constructive metabolism by which carbohydrates are formed from water vapor and the carbon dioxide of the air in the chlorophyll-containing tissues of plants exposed to the action of light. It was formerly called assimilation, but this is now commonly used as in animal physiology. The details of the process are not yet clearly known. Baeyer's theory is that the carbon dioxide is reduced to carbon monoxide, which, uniting with the hydrogen of the water in the cell, produces formaldehyde, the latter forming various sugars through polymerization. Vines suggests that the carbohydrates are secretion products of the chloroplasts, derived from decomposition of previously formed proteids. The food substances are usually quickly translocated, those that accumulate being changed to starch, which appears in the cells almost simultaneously with the sugars. The chloroplasts perform photosynthesis only in light and within a certain range of temperature, varying according to climate. This is the only way in which a plant is able to organize carbohydrates. All plants without a chlorophyll apparatus, as the fungi, must be parasitic or saprophytic. -- Pho`to*syn*thet"ic, a. -- Pho`to*syn*thet"ic*al*ly, adv.
Wiktionary
adv. By the use of photosynthesis
Usage examples of "photosynthetically".
Although it does derive some nourishment photosynthetically, it is not quite a vegetable, retaining enough mobility to—"
Without light, the synthetic organism would grow increasingly weaker, unable to repair itself photosynthetically, and the architectural stress would also increase until the tea room fell, or Kagami surrendered.