sessile

[ ses-il, -ahyl ]

adjective
  1. Botany. attached by the base, or without any distinct projecting support, as a leaf issuing directly from the stem.

  2. Zoology. permanently attached; not freely moving.

Origin of sessile

1
1715–25; <Latin sessilis fit for sitting on, low enough to sit on, dwarfish (said of plants), equivalent to sess(us) (past participle of sedēre to sit1) + -ilis-ile

Other words from sessile

  • ses·sil·i·ty [se-sil-i-tee], /sɛˈsɪl ɪ ti/, noun
  • pseu·do·ses·sile, adjective
  • sub·ses·sile, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use sessile in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for sessile

sessile

/ (ˈsɛsaɪl) /


adjective
  1. (of flowers or leaves) having no stalk; growing directly from the stem

  2. (of animals such as the barnacle) permanently attached to a substratum

Origin of sessile

1
C18: from Latin sēssilis concerning sitting, from sedēre to sit

Derived forms of sessile

  • sessility (sɛˈsɪlɪtɪ), noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for sessile

sessile

[ sĕsīl′ ]


  1. Permanently attached or fixed and not free-moving, as corals and mussels.

  2. Stalkless and attached directly at the base, as certain kinds of leaves and fruit.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.