sessile

American  

[ses-il, -ahyl] / ˈsɛs ɪl, -aɪl /

adjective

1. Botany. attached by the base, or without any distinct projecting support, as a leaf issuing directly from the stem.

2. Zoology. permanently attached; not freely moving.

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sessile British  

/ ˈsɛsaɪl, sɛˈsɪlɪtɪ /

adjective

1. (of flowers or leaves) having no stalk; growing directly from the stem

2. (of animals such as the barnacle) permanently attached to a substratum

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sessile Scientific  

/ sĕs′īl′ /

1. Permanently attached or fixed and not free-moving, as corals and mussels.

2. Stalkless and attached directly at the base, as certain kinds of leaves and fruit.

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Other Word Forms

• pseudosessile adjective
• sessility noun
• subsessile adjective

Etymology

Origin of sessile

1715–25; < Latin sessilis fit for sitting on, low enough to sit on, dwarfish (said of plants), equivalent to sess ( us ) (past participle of sedēre to sit ¹ ) + -ilis -ile

Example Sentences

It has been trying to restore the woodlands by introducing downy birch, sessile oak, hazel, willow, aspen and alder as well as endangered tree species such as Arran whitebeam.

From BBC

Researchers learned that sessile invertebrates -- those that stay in one place, such as mussels and barnacles -- became more abundant during the study period, while seaweed species like kelps declined.

From Science Daily

Studies of other kinds of deep-sea disturbances, including deep-sea trawling and oil and gas operations, have suggested that sessile animals are especially vulnerable, sometimes taking decades to recover.

From Scientific American

But unlike most others in that group, it does not undergo metamorphosis from a free-swimming larva to a fixed-to-the-bottom, or sessile, adult.

From Scientific American

But many coastal species are sessile – meaning they are stuck to rocks for all their adult lives.

From Salon