pensile

[pen-sahyl, -sil]

See more synonyms for pensile on Thesaurus.com

adjective

hanging, as the nests of certain birds.
building a hanging nest.

Origin of pensile

1595–1605; < Latin pēnsilis hanging down, equivalent to pēns(us) past participle of pendēre to hang (equivalent to pend- verb stem + -tus past participle suffix, with dt > s) + -ilis -ile

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for pensile

drooping, jutting, pendulous, projecting, suspended, beetling, pendent, swinging

Examples from the Web for pensile

Historical Examples of pensile

They were of the species known as the “pensile weaver-bird” (Ploceus pensilis).
The Bush Boys
Captain Mayne Reid
They were of the species known as the “pensile weaver-bird.”
Popular Adventure Tales
Mayne Reid
There it hung, like a hermits beard, from the pensile branch.
Pictures of Southern Life
William Howard Russell
Be careful to distinguish between pencil, an instrument for writing, and pensile, meaning hanging down.
Five Hundred Mistakes of Daily Occurrence in Speaking, Pronouncing, and Writing the English Language, Corrected
Anonymous
Other species of Polybia build nests different in shape and arrangement, though still of the pensile character.
Insect Architecture
James Rennie

British Dictionary definitions for pensile

pensile

adjective

ornithol designating or building a hanging nestpensile birds

Derived Formspensility (pɛnˈsɪlɪtɪ) or pensileness, noun

Word Origin for pensile

C17: from Latin pensilis hanging down, from pendēre to hang

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