'phototrophy' originates from Greek elements used in New Latin/scientific coinage: specifically from Greek 'phōs' (φῶς) meaning 'light' and 'trophē' (τροφῆ) meaning 'nourishment'.

'phototrophy' was formed in modern scientific English by combining the prefix 'photo-' (from Greek 'phōs') and the suffix '-trophy' (from Greek 'trophē') and entered usage in biological literature in the 19th–20th century to describe light-based nutrition.

Initially it referred generally to 'nourishment from light'; over time the term has retained that core sense but has been refined to distinguish types (e.g., photoautotrophy vs. photoheterotrophy) and specific biochemical processes such as photosynthesis.