motile
Americanadjective
adjective
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of motile
1860–65; < Latin mōt ( us ) (past participle of movēre to move, set in motion) + -ile
Explanation
Motile organisms can move. If you put a drop of pond water under a microscope, you might see motile creatures darting around. Biologists are interested in whether or not very small organisms are motile. Some doctors are concerned with how motile a person's digestive system is, or how efficiently food is moving through it. The movement itself is called motility, and both words come from the French motilité, from the Latin motus, or "motion," with motile copying the form of mobile.
Vocabulary lists containing motile
Animals (Zoology) - Middle School
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The Lives of a Cell
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Animals (Zoology) - High School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Their work focused on Clostridia, a group of motile bacteria found in large numbers in the human gut that are known to support gut health.
From Science Daily • Feb. 8, 2026
There was no notable difference in live birth rates between those with and without anxiety, though men with anxiety had, on average, lower total motile sperm counts during egg retrieval.
From Science Daily • Oct. 19, 2023
We found that men who performed fewer mate guarding behaviors produced higher quality ejaculates, having a greater concentration of sperm, a higher percentage of motile sperm and sperm that swam faster and less erratically.
From Salon • Jun. 19, 2022
Fibroblasts are motile, able to carry out mitosis, and can synthesize whichever connective tissue is needed.
From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022
But there is something else about words that gives them the look and feel of living motile beings with minds of their own.
From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
