sectile

comparative more sectile · superlative most sectile

1. Capable of being cut; easily cut.

   Near-synonyms: sectionable, dissectable, dissectible, cuttable, sliceable

   2 more examples

   a fruit consisting of an exterior pulpy or fleshy portion, sarcocarp, enclosing the seed, in this case not hard and bony, as in true drupes, but fleshy and easily sectile.

   1850, Robert Wight, Illustrations of Indian Botany, volume 2, Myrtaceae

   The beds, usually soft and sectile, and acted on with immense rapidity by river erosion, being converted into masses of striped jasper, often of great beauty and extreme hardness.

   1862, Robert Mallet, Great Neapolitan Earthquake of 1857/Part I. Ch. XIX, Part I. Ch. XIX

   Synonyms: sectionable, dissectable, dissectible, cuttable, sliceable · Antonyms: indivisible, undissectable, uncuttable, unsliceable, unsectionable

   1. chemistryCapable of being cut smoothly with a knife.

      Near-synonym: sliceable

      1 more example

      The mineral is perfectly sectile and has a shining streak

      1911, Leonard James Spencer, “Argentite”, in Encyclopædia Britannica, 11th edition, New York, N.Y.: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

      Synonyms: sectionable, dissectable, dissectible, cuttable, sliceable, sliceable · Antonyms: indivisible, undissectable, uncuttable, unsliceable, unsectionable

2. Having the appearance of being divided or broken.

   A good, though small, example of a sectile pavement will be found in the triforium of the cathedral of Aix-la-Chapelle, being no doubt a portion of that brought by Charles the Great from Rome or Ravenna.

   1880, William Smith, Samuel Cheetham, A Dictionary of Christian Antiquities