fissile

[ fis-uh l ]

/ ˈfɪs əl /

adjective

capable of being split or divided; cleavable.

Physics.

fissionable.
(of a nuclide) capable of undergoing fission induced by low-energy neutrons, as uranium 233 and 235.

Nearby words

Origin of fissile

1655–65; < Latin fissilis, equivalent to fiss(us) (see fissi-) + -ilis -ile

Related formsfis·sil·i·ty, nounnon·fis·sile, adjectivenon·fis·sil·i·ty, nounun·fis·sile, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for fissile

North Korea claims to have converted the fissile material into nuclear weapons.
How Close Is North Korea to a Nuclear Missile?|Naoko Aoki|March 26, 2012|DAILY BEAST
The cliffs of this island are composed of a fissile primitive rock, on which sandstone reposes in regular beds.
Narrative of a Survey of the Intertropical and Western Coasts of Australia] [Volume 2 of 2]|Phillip Parker King
The grits are of a fissile character, and are quarried extensively for flag-stone, ashlers, and fire-stone.
A Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures and Mines|Andrew Ure
Other loadstones are of a leaden colour, fissile and not-fissile, capable of being split like slates in layers.
On the magnet, magnetick bodies also, and on the great magnet the earth|William Gilbert of Colchester

It appears to us from its use to have been either a quartzite or a fissile limestone.
De Re Metallica|Georgius Agricola
Mould, the earth of vegetables, is hardened into fissile slate, which being impregnated with bitumen becomes coal.
Lives of Eminent Zoologists, from Aristotle to Linnus|William MacGillivray

British Dictionary definitions for fissile

fissile

/ (ˈfɪsaɪl) /

adjective

British capable of undergoing nuclear fission as a result of the impact of slow neutrons

US and Canadian another word for fissionable

tending to split or capable of being split

Derived Formsfissility (fɪˈsɪlɪtɪ), noun

Word Origin for fissile

C17: from Latin fissilis, from fissus split; see fissi-

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

Word Origin and History for fissile

fissile

adj.

1660s, from Latin fissilis "that which may be cleft or split," from fissus, past participle of findere (see fissure).