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Synonyms

motile

American  
[moht-l, moh-til] / ˈmoʊt l, ˈmoʊ tɪl /

adjective

  1. Biology. moving or capable of moving spontaneously.

    motile cells; motile spores.
motile British  
/ məʊˈtɪlɪtɪ, ˈməʊtaɪl /

adjective

  1. capable of moving spontaneously and independently

"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

noun

  1. psychol a person whose mental imagery strongly reflects movement, esp his own

"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
motile Scientific  
/ mōt′l,mō′tīl′ /

  1. Moving or able to move by itself. Sperm and certain spores are motile.

Other Word Forms

  • motility noun
  • nonmotile adjective
  • unmotile adjective

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.

Keep Reading on Vocabulary.com

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

These receptors help motile bacteria detect nutrients that are especially valuable for growth.

From Science Daily • Feb. 8, 2026

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

The bank guarantees a vial will have 10 million or 15 million total motile sperm.

From New York Times • Jan. 8, 2021

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.