Etymology

heterotroph

H4E1T1E1R1O1T1R1O1P3H4

Today it means: 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. Full definition →

English hetero- ← Ancient Greek ἕτερος (héteros) ← Proto-Hellenic *hə́teros
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*sem-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*sḿ̥teros
  3. Proto-Hellenic*hə́teros
  4. Ancient Greekἕτερος (héteros)
  5. Englishhetero-
  6. English todayheterotroph

From hetero- (“other”) + -troph (“nutrition”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.