motile

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈmoʊtəl/ UK /ˈməʊtaɪl/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

adj
capable of independent movement

Many bacteria are motile, propelled by tiny flagella.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · capable of independent... mobile moving locomotive ambulatory

Opposites

sessile immotile stationary fixed

Word family

Derived forms motility

Related forms motion motor mobile

Etymology

A 19th-century formation from Latin mōt- (past participle stem of movēre, 'to move') + -ile, on the model of mobile.

movēre Latin *mew- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities

External links

# motile

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ˈmoʊtəl/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈməʊtaɪl/

## Meanings
1. capable of independent movement

## Examples
- Many bacteria are motile, propelled by tiny flagella.

## Synonyms
- mobile
- moving
- locomotive
- ambulatory

## Antonyms
- sessile
- immotile
- stationary
- fixed

## Derived Forms
- motility

## Related Forms
- motion
- motor
- mobile

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: movēre
- Root: *mew-

## Etymology
A 19th-century formation from Latin mōt- (past participle stem of movēre, 'to move') + -ile, on the model of mobile.

## AI Etymology
Motile is a 19th-century formation from Latin mōt- (past participle stem of movēre, 'to move') + -ile, on the model of mobile. Important recorded forms include movēre (Latin) and *mew- (Proto-Indo-European). Morphologically, the word is a built form whose named elements carry part of the historical sense. The current sense covers capable of independent movement. The wider family includes derived forms such as motility and related words such as motion, motor, and mobile.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

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