heterotroph

[ het-er-uh-trof, -trohf ]

noun

1. Biology. an organism requiring organic compounds for its principal source of food.

heterotroph

/ hĕt′ər-ə-trŏf′ /

1. An organism that cannot manufacture its own food and instead obtains its food and energy by taking in organic substances, usually plant or animal matter. All animals, protozoans, fungi, and most bacteria are heterotrophs.
2. Compare autotroph

Word History and Origins

Origin of heterotroph¹

First recorded in 1895–1900; hetero- + -troph

Example Sentences

In marshes, this role has mostly been attributed to heterotrophs, or bacteria that grow and get their energy from organic carbon.

From Science Daily

Mushrooms, yeast, and some algae are heterotrophs, organisms that consume other plants or animals for their nutrition and are naturally able to grow in the dark.

From Science Magazine

Plant–heterotroph interplay is likely to be nuanced, given how long most of the partners have been at it.

From Nature

The reactors actually contain a mini ecosystem that includes other species of bacteria, known as heterotrophs, which mop up metabolic products that would otherwise slow Methylococcus’s growth.

From Economist

In particular, they found an unusual community of bacteria there called heterotrophs, or microbes that cannot produce their own food and must eat what they find in the water.

From Scientific American