Sessile

Word of the Day for Friday 31^st January 2014

Sessile \SES-il, -ahyl\, adjective:

1. Zoology. permanently attached; not freely moving.
2. Botany. attached by the base, or without any distinct projecting support, as a leaf issuing directly from the stem.

And I was afraid of being grounded, sessile—stuck in one spot for eighteen years of oboe lessons and math homework that I couldn’t finish the first time around.
-- Ariel Levy, "Thanksgiving in Mongolia," The New Yorker, Nov. 18, 2013

Alfred was stretched out his full length in the sword of sun that shone through the thick branches of the sessile oak trees.
-- Catherine Coulter, Rosehaven, 1997

Sessile stems from the Latin word sessilis which had a range of meanings including "fit for sitting on, low enough to sit on, and dwarfish (when referring to plants)." It entered English in the early 1700’s.

Thanks to: www.dictionary.com