fissile

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin fissilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfɪsˌaɪ.əl/, /ˈfɪsˌəl/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Adjective

fissile (comparative more fissile, superlative most fissile)

1. Able to be split.
2. (geology) Easily split along a grain.
   • a. 1728 (date written), Isaac Newton, “[The Third Book of Opticks.] [Qu[estion] 25. Are there not other original Properties of the Rays of Light, besides those already described?]”, in Opticks: Or, A Treatise of the Reflections, Refractions, Inflections and Colours of Light. […], 4th edition, London: […] William Innys […], published 1730, →OCLC, page 329:

     This Cryſtal is a pellucid fiſſile Stone, clear as Water or Cryſtal of the Rock, and without Colour; enduring a red Heat without loſing its tranſparency, and in a very ſtrong Heat calcining without Fuſion.

3. (physics) Capable of sustaining a nuclear fission chain reaction.
   • 2014 March 20, Jeffrey Lewis, “The Tunnels at Punggye-ri: An Alternative View”, in 38 North‎^[1], archived from the original on 3 April 2014:

     North Korea may soon have access to regular amounts of fissile material if it doesn’t already and could be preparing Punggye-ri for a number of nuclear tests if the above analysis is correct.

Derived terms

• fissban
• fissileness
• fissility
• nonfissile
• subfissile
• unfissile

Translations

able to be split

• Bulgarian: цеплив (cepliv)
• Dutch: splijtbaar (nl)
• French: fissible (fr)
• German: spaltbar
• Greek: διασπάσιμος (el) (diaspásimos), διαχωρίσιμος m (diachorísimos)
• Manx: yn-scoltey
• Portuguese: cindível, fissível
• Swedish: klyvbar (sv)
• Welsh: ymholltus, hyhollt

easily split along a grain

• Greek: εύσχιστος m (éfschistos)
• Polish: łupliwy (pl) m

capable of sustaining a nuclear fission chain reaction

• Bulgarian: разцепващ се (razcepvašt se)
• Czech: štěpný m
• German: spaltbar
• Greek: διασπάσιμος (el) (diaspásimos), σχάσιμος (schásimos)
• Polish: rozszczepialny m
• Spanish: físil (es), fisible, fisionable (es)
• Swedish: fissil (sv)

Anagrams

• Silfies

French

Pronunciation

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

Adjective

fissile (plural fissiles)

1. fissile, fissible

Further reading

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

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfis.si.le/
• Rhymes: -issile
• Hyphenation: fìs‧si‧le

Adjective

fissile m or f by sense (plural fissili)

1. fissile
2. (physics) fissile, fissionable

   Synonym: fissionabile

3. (geology) fissile

Related terms

• fissilità
• fissione