sessile

American  

[ses-il, -ahyl] / ˈsɛs ɪl, -aɪl /

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.

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sessile British  

/ ˈsɛsaɪl, sɛˈsɪlɪtɪ /

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

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sessile Scientific  

/ sĕs′īl′ /

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.

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Other Word Forms

• pseudosessile adjective
• sessility noun
• subsessile adjective

Etymology

Origin of sessile

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 sit ¹ ) + -ilis -ile