- (of flowers or leaves) having no stalk; growing directly from the stem
- (of animals such as the barnacle) permanently attached to a substratum
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026
ses•sile
(ses′il, -īl),USA pronunciation adj.
ses•sil•i•ty
(se sil′i tē),USA pronunciation n.
- Botanyattached by the base, or without any distinct projecting support, as a leaf issuing directly from the stem.
- Zoologypermanently attached; not freely moving.
- Latin sessilis fit for sitting on, low enough to sit on, dwarfish (said of plants), equivalent. to sess(us) (past participle of sedēre to sit1) + -ilis -ile
- 1715–25
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
sessile /ˈsɛsaɪl/ adj
'sessile' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
anthozoan
- capitulum
- cirripede
- crinoid
- durmast
- sea lily
- sessile oak
- spadix
- spike
- sponge
- attached
- bryozoan
- entoproct
- free-living
- radial symmetry
- red trillium
- toadshade
- tunicate
- verticillaster
- sea cabbage
- sea squirt
- sertularian
- stalkless