Sessile vs. Motile — What's the Difference?

Permanently attached or fixed; not free-moving

(of cells, gametes, and single-celled organisms) capable of motion

Stalkless and attached directly at the base

Relating to or characterized by responses that involve muscular rather than audiovisual sensations.

(zoology) Permanently attached to a substrate; not free to move about.

Moving or having the power to move spontaneously

(botany) Attached directly by the base; not having an intervening stalk; stalkless.

(biology) In organisms: having the power to move spontaneously.

Attached without any sensible projecting support.

(biology) In organs or organelles: capable of producing motion.

Resting directly upon the main stem or branch, without a petiole or footstalk; as, a sessile leaf or blossom.

(psychology) Of or relating to those mental images that arise from the sensations of bodily movement and position. Cf. kinesthetic, proprioceptive.

Permanently attached; - said of the gonophores of certain hydroids which never became detached.

(psychology) A person whose prevailing mental imagery takes the form of inner feelings of action, such as incipient pronunciation of words, muscular innervations, etc.

Permanently attached to a substrate; not free to move about;

Exhibiting, or capable of, spontaneous movement; as, motile bacteria, motile protozoa, motile cilia, motile spores, etc.

Attached directly by the base; not having an intervening stalk;

Producing motion; as, motile powers.

A person whose prevailing mental imagery takes the form of inner feelings of action, such as incipient pronunciation of words, muscular innervations, etc.

One whose prevailing mental imagery takes the form of inner feelings of action

(of spores or microorganisms) capable of movement