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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

heterotroph en · NOUN

Pronunciation

  • /-ˌtɹɒf/ (US)
  • /hɛt(ə)ɹə(ʊ)ˈtɹɒf/ (UK)
  • /ˈhɛtəɹəˌtɹoʊf/ (US)
  • /ˈhɛt(ə)ɹə(ʊ)tɹəʊf/ (UK)

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *sem- Proto-Indo-European *sḿ̥teros Proto-Hellenic *hə́teros Ancient Greek ἕτερος (héteros)lbor. English hetero- English -troph English heterotroph From hetero- (“other”) + -troph (“nutrition”).

Meanings

  1. An organism which requires an external supply of energy and nutrients under the form of food containing organic carbon as it cannot synthesize its own.
    • It is likely that the long evolutionary trajectory of Mycoplasma went from a reductive autotroph to oxidative heterotroph to a cell-wall–defective degenerate parasite. This evolutionary trajectory assumes the simplicity to complexity route of biogenesis, a point of view that is not universally accepted. 2013 March 14, Harold J. Morowitz, “The Smallest Cell”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 2, archived from the original on 04 Jan 2017, page 83:
    • Woody detritus is an important component of forested ecosystems. It can reduce erosion and affects soil development, stores nutrients and water, provides a major source of energy and nutrients, and serves as a seedbed for plants and as a major habitat for decomposers and heterotrophs. 2009, Christian Wirth, Gerd Gleixner, Martin Heimann, Old-Growth Forests: Function, Fate and Value, Springer Science & Business Media, →ISBN, page 159:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
heterotrophs Number=Plur lexicographic

Coordinates

autotroph

Deriveds

organoheterotroph · myco-heterotroph · chemoheterotroph · lithoheterotroph · photoheterotroph · microheterotroph · heterotrophy · heterotrophic

Synonyms

consumer

Translations (19)

ky гетеротроф (organism) · es nutrición heterótrofa (organism) · vi sinh vật dị dưỡng (organism) · id heterotrof (organism) · ja 従属栄養生物 (organism) · cmn 異營生物 /异营生物 (organism) · ro heterotrof (organism) · fr hétérotrophe (organism) · ko 종속영양생물 (organism) · es heterótrofo (organism) · fi kuluttaja (organism) · kk гетеротроф (organism) · ga heitreatrófach (organism) · it eterotrofo (organism) · fi heterotrofi (organism) · cmn 異養生物 /异养生物 (organism) · pl heterotrof (organism) · fi toisenvarainen (organism) · de Heterotroph (organism)