ductile

English

WOTD – 16 September 2009

Etymology

From Old French, from Latin ductilis (“easily led”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈdʌk.taɪl/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈdʌk.təl/, /ˈdʌk.taɪl/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌktaɪl

Adjective

ductile (comparative more ductile, superlative most ductile)

1. Capable of being pulled or stretched into thin wire by mechanical force without breaking.

   ductile material

   ductile shape

   ductile alloy

   ductile state

   Gold is highly ductile, allowing it to be drawn into very fine wires.

   The ductile nature of copper makes it essential in electrical wiring.

2. Molded easily into a new form.
   • 1871, Edward Bulwer-Lytton, The Coming Race, Chapter VII:

     their organisation was, by hereditary culture, much more ductile and more readily capable of acquiring knowledge than mine.

3. (rare) Led easily; prone to follow.

Synonyms

• (molded easily): flexible, plastic, pliant; see also Thesaurus:moldable
• (led easily): tractable

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “capable of being pulled into thin wire”): brittle

Coordinate terms

• malleable

Derived terms

• ductile fracture
• ductile iron
• ductilely
• ductileness
• ductilimeter
• ductility
• ductilize
• inductile
• nonductile
• semiductile

Related terms

• duct
• ductility

Translations

capable of being pulled or stretched into thin wire

• Bulgarian: ковък (bg) (kovǎk)
• Catalan: dúctil
• Danish: stækbar
• Finnish: venyvä (fi), muokattava (fi)
• French: ductile (fr)
• German: duktil (de)
• Greek: όλκιμος (el) (ólkimos)
• Italian: duttile (it) m or f, trafilabile
• Manx: yn-sheeyney
• Māori: kōngohe
• Norwegian: formbar (no)
• Portuguese: dúctil (pt)
• Russian: тягучий (ru) (tjagučij)
• Slovak: kujný m rozťažný m
• Swedish: duktil
• Turkish: sünek (tr)

molded easily into a new form

• Bulgarian: пластичен (bg) (plastičen)
• Danish: smidig, sej
• Finnish: muokattava (fi)
• German: duktil (de), formbar (de), verformbar (de)
• Italian: duttile (it) m or f
• Macedonian: ра́стеглив (rástegliv), ела́стичен (elástičen), пла́стичен (plástičen)
• Portuguese: dúctil (pt)
• Russian: эластичный (ru) (elastičnyj)
• Slovak: tvárny m tvarovateľný m poddajný m
• Swedish: formbar (sv)

easily led

• Bulgarian: податлив (bg) (podatliv)
• Danish: føjelig
• Finnish: johdateltava, herkkäuskoinen (fi), hyväuskoinen (fi)
• German: fügsam (de)
• Macedonian: по́слушен (póslušen), по́корен (pókoren), по́датлив (pódatliv)
• Portuguese: dúctil (pt)
• Russian: послу́шный (ru) (poslúšnyj)
• Slovak: poddajný m ovládateľný m

See also

• elastic

Anagrams

• dulcite

French

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin ductilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dyk.til/

• Audio (France (Brétigny-sur-Orge)):

  (file)

Adjective

ductile (plural ductiles)

1. ductile (capable of being pulled or stretched into thin wire)

Derived terms

• ductilité

Further reading

• “ductile”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Anagrams

• dulcite

Latin

Adjective

ductile

1. nominative/accusative/vocative neuter singular of ductilis

References

• "ductile", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)