Sessile

//ˈsɛsaɪl// adj

adj ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Permanently attached to a substrate; not free to move about. not-comparable

    "a sessile oyster"

  2. 2
    Attached directly by the base; not having an intervening stalk; stalkless. not-comparable

    "The pileus is sessile, or sometimes narrowed at the base into a short stem, the caps often numerous and crowded together in an overlapping or imbricate manner."

Adjective
  1. 1
    attached directly by the base; not having an intervening stalk wordnet
  2. 2
    permanently attached to a substrate; not free to move about wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
apetiolateattachedattachedfixedimmobileimmotile

Example

More examples

"Coral, a sessile animal, relies on its relationship with plant-like algae to build the largest structures of biological origin on Earth."

Etymology

From Latin sessilis (“sitting”), from sessus, perfect passive participle of verb sedeō (“to sit”), + adjective suffix -ilis. Compare session.

Related phrases

sessile bellwortsessile oak

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.