Osmotrophs

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Organisms that take in dissolved nutrients directly through their cell membranes by osmotic absorption rather than ingesting solid food
2. Living things that obtain nourishment by absorbing dissolved organic substances across their cell membranes from the environment
3. Creatures that sustain themselves by osmotically drawing in dissolved nutrients from their surrounding medium through selective membrane permeability

Etymology: "Osmotrophs" is the plural of "osmotroph," so the singular is the form that carries the etymology. An osmotroph is an organism that feeds by absorbing dissolved nutrients directly across its body surface, typically through its cell membrane or outer wall, rather than by ingesting food. The term is built from Greek roots: "osmos," meaning "push" or "impulse," which gave English "osmosis," and "trophos," meaning "feeder" or "nourisher," the same root behind "trophy" in its older sense and "atrophy." Together they describe a feeder that works by osmotic absorption.