motile

/ˈmoʊtəl/

Other forms: motiles

Motile organisms can move. If you put a drop of pond water under a microscope, you might see motile creatures darting around.

Biologists are interested in whether or not very small organisms are motile. Some doctors are concerned with how motile a person's digestive system is, or how efficiently food is moving through it. The movement itself is called motility, and both words come from the French motilité, from the Latin motus, or "motion," with motile copying the form of mobile.

Definitions of motile

1. adjective

   (of spores or microorganisms) capable of movement
   synonyms:

   mobile

   moving or capable of moving readily (especially from place to place)
2. noun

   one whose prevailing mental imagery takes the form of inner feelings of action
   type of:

   beholder, observer, perceiver, percipient

   a person who becomes aware (of things or events) through the senses