a. [ Gr. 'a`llos other + trophic. ] (a) (Physiol.) Changed or modified in nutritive power by the process of digestion. (b) (Plant Physiol.) Dependent upon other organisms for nutrition; heterotrophic; -- said of plants unable to perform photosynthesis, as all saprophytes; -- opposed to autotrophic. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]