1. In medicine, a referring to a condition caused by dystrophy or the progressive changes that may result from defective nutrition of a tissue or organ.
2. Relates to or is caused by faulty nutrition.
3. In ecology, with reference to a lake or pond, having too low an accumulation of dissolved nutrients to support abundant plant life.
4. Another description of a lake or pond that contains highly acid, brownish waters filled with undecayed plant materials, and eventually developing into a peat bog or marsh.
5. Refers to a lake with high humus material, sparse bottom fauna, and low dissolved oxygen.