Meaning & use
autotroph
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Meaning
nouncountabletechnicalbiology
A living thing that makes its own food from simple substances, usually using light or chemical energy.
Grammar: Countable: you can say an autotroph or autotrophs. Often used in science writing.
Patterns
- an autotroph produces its own food
- autotrophs and heterotrophs
Plants are autotrophs because they make their own food using sunlight.
In this ecosystem, the autotrophs form the base of the food chain.
Some bacteria are autotrophs that use chemical energy from rocks instead of sunlight.
Word forms
| plural | autotrophs |
|---|
Common combinations
- primary autotroph
- Algae are the primary autotrophs in many ponds.
- autotroph vs heterotroph
- The teacher asked us to compare an autotroph and a heterotroph.
- photosynthetic autotroph
- Trees are photosynthetic autotrophs.
Synonyms and how they differ
- producer
- In ecology, producer is the everyday term for an autotroph; autotroph is more technical and includes organisms that use chemical energy.
Opposites
Word family
- autotrophic adjective
- Describing an organism that makes its own food.
- autotrophy noun
- The process or state of being autotrophic.
Commonly confused: autotroph or heterotroph?
autotroph vs heterotroph
A heterotroph cannot make its own food and must eat other organisms; an autotroph makes its own food.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'autotroph' correctly?
Choose one answer.
An autotroph produces its own food, so option C is correct. Option An is wrong because a lion eats other animals, making it a heterotroph. Option B describes a heterotroph, not an autotroph. Option D is false because many autotrophs are plants or bacteria.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “autotroph”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.