ductile

UK/ˈdʌk.taɪl/US/ˈdʌk.təl/

adjectiveC1Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #15,013 of 15,258Too rare in one of the two pools to compare — fewer than 20 uses in speech or in writing

Ductile means able to be pulled out into a wire without breaking. A ductile metal, ductile iron, ductile behaviour.

Gold is the most ductile of all: a single gram can be drawn into a wire two kilometres long. Ductile is not the same as malleable, which is about being hammered flat — a metal can be one and not the other. A ductile failure bends first and warns you.

Definitions of ductile

1adjectiveductileAble to be pulled into a wire without breaking.C1
“Copper is so ductile that it's used for almost all household wiring.”

ductile is a quality of metal.

Where it comes from

Latin ductilis means easily led, from ducere, to lead. Duct and conduct are relatives.

Latin
ductilis — easily led
English, today
ductile

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

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Materials & Substances

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ductile in the wild

Lead is an example of a material which is substantially more malleable than ductile.
Ductility
Some metals that are generally described as ductile include gold Plutonium, Uranium and copper, while platinum is the most ductile of all metals in pure form.
Ductility
In brittle materials, the ultimate tensile strength is close to the yield point, whereas in ductile materials, the ultimate tensile strength can be higher.
Ultimate tensile strength
Tensile strengths are rarely of any consequence in the design of ductile members, but they are important with brittle members.
Ultimate tensile strength
As the carbon content percentage rises, steel has the ability to become harder and stronger through heat treating; however, it becomes less ductile.
Carbon steel

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

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