compatible, a.
(kəmˈpætɪb(ə)l)
[a. F. compatible, ad. med.L. compatibilis (as in beneficium compatibile, i.e. one that can be held along with another, Du Cange), f. compati to suffer with (see compassion).
Dr. Johnson thought this word a corruption of competible, which ‘is found in good authors, and ought always to be used’. The quotations, however, show that the meanings of the two words were different from the beginning, and that compatible was the older word. Confusion seems to have taken place later: see 2 c.]
† 1. Participating in suffering; sympathetic. Obs.
| 1490 Caxton Eneydos xxii. (1890) 78 Y⊇ remembraunce greued hym ryght sorowfully by incytacion compatyble whiche admonnesteth hym to socoure this dolant lady. 1605 Bacon Adv. Learning ii. ix. §3 The Infant in the mothers wombe is compatible with the mother, and yet separable. 1618 G. Mynshul Ess. Prison 33 A compatible commiseration of those, who I know lye groaning under it. |
2. a. Mutually tolerant; capable of being admitted together, or of existing together in the same subject; accordant, consistent, congruous, agreeable.
| 1532 More Confut. Tindale Wks. 485/1 Wedlocke and priesthod be not repugnant but compatible of their nature. 1563–87 Foxe A. & M. 328 (R.) But those formes which are so distracted, that they be not contrarie but disalike: are compatible in one subiect, as quantitie and qualitie. 1589 Puttenham Eng. Poesie iii. iv. (Arb.) 160 Many other like words borrowed out of the Latin and French, were not so well to be allowed by vs, as these words..compatible, for agreeable in nature. 1611 Cotgr., Compatible, compatible, concurrable; which can abide, or agree together; or indure, or beare with, one another. 1636 Healey Theophrast., Oligarchy 91 If any do them affront or iniurie, He and I (say they) are not compatible in this City. a 1745 Broome (J.), Our poets have joined together such qualities as are by nature the most compatible. 1754 Richardson Grandison I. xxxvi. 259 Can friendship and reserve be compatible? 1884 Contemp. Rev. Oct. 524 It develops..all sorts of energies and capacities..with all compatible fulness and efficiency. |
b. Const. with.
| 1641 Baker Chron. Edw. III, an. 1347 (R.) An honour out of his way, and scarce compatible with his state at home. 1688 Miege Fr. Dict. s.v., Heat is compatible with Moisture. 1794 Ld. Auckland's Corr. (1862) III. 196 Every reform that was compatible..with order and good government. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. III. 549 He did not think it compatible with his personal dignity. |
† c. Const. to. Obs. (In this const. confused with competible: cf. esp. quots. 1668, 1714.)
| 1623 Jas. I Answ. Parl. in Rushw. Hist. Coll. (1659) I. 127 A fault in my discretion scarce compatible to the love and trust I bear him. 1668 Howe Bless Righteous (1825) 88 A pleasure compatible to a creature. 1690 Locke Hum. Und. ii. xiii. §13 Neither of these ways of Separation..is, as I think, compatible to pure Space. a 1714 Sharp Serm. II. iii. (R.), We have not only all the proofs of genuineness..that can be given for any other writings..but this over and above, which is compatible to none but these. |
d. Specific scientific and technical uses (see quots. and cf. compatibility 2).
| 1899 Practitioner Dec. 622 The apparently isomeric sulphocarbolates of zinc and sodium do not react as sulphates, and are compatible with lead salts. 1926 Jrnl. Amer. Med. Assoc. 22 May 1596/1 In the present series of forty persons are to be found about 40 per cent whose serum or white blood cells seem to be mutually compatible with all others. 1929 Hackh Chem. Dict. 195/1 Compatible, any pair of drugs which do not interfere or react chemically, physically or therapeutically with one another. 1935 Biol. Abstr. 5627 Vigorous scions of pears are more compatible because they become more readily adapted to the high conc. of protoplasm in the rootstocks. 1938 Fritsch & Salisbury Plant Form & Function xxiii. 252 Grafting and budding are usually only possible between related types of plants. Those which can be associated successfully are termed compatible, but both compatible and imcompatible strains..may occur. 1940 Chambers's Techn. Dict. 183/1 Compatible (Bot.), capable of self-fertilisation. 1949 Radio Corp. Amer. Rev. X. 523 The all-electronic color television system described is a fully compatible system. 1953 Gloss. Paint Terms (B.S.I.) 11 Compatible. a. Two or more paints or varnishes which can be mixed in bulk without producing any undesirable effects such as precipitation, coagulation, gelling, are said to be compatible. b. Different coats of paint which can be associated in a painting system without producing undesirable effects are said to be compatible. 1955 Gouriet Introd. Colour Television ii. ii. 41 For a system to be fully compatible,..it should provide a signal which conforms substantially to present-day black-and-white standards. 1958 Times 20 Jan. 10/4 Stereophonic records will not be ‘compatible’, that is, able to be played on ordinary gramophones. 1958 Listener 16 Oct. 605/2 The system which is being used for the forthcoming series of stereophonic sound broadcasts..has the serious disadvantage of not being compatible; i.e., properly balanced reproduction will not be obtained when listening to either one channel alone. 1966 Melody Maker 8 Oct. 13/1 All Musicassettes are compatible which means they can be played on mono or stereo equipment. 1969 Lancet 4 Jan. 34/1 Patients with HL-A-compatible grafts were clinically superior and less prone to multiple or severe rejection crises than patients who had received incompatible grafts. |
3. Of benefices: Capable of being held together.
| 1559 in Strype Ann. Ref. I. xiv. 186 Being presented to such churches compatible, over and above his principal cure. 1872 O. Shipley Gloss. Eccl. Terms 65. |
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▸ adj. Computing. Of hardware, software, a data format, etc.: usable on or with a specified piece of equipment or software, esp. without adaptation or modification. Freq. with distinguishing word.
| 1960 Communications ACM 3 420 The other extreme viewpoint of compatibility is that any two machines of the same general class are compatible since both are essentially equivalent to the same Universal Turing Machine and hence to each other. 1962 D. S. Halacy Computers iii. 54 Punched cards, which fall into the category called computer ‘software’ are cheap, flexible, and compatible with many types of equipment. 1981 Electronics 10 Mar. 165/1 Software supported by the operating system will remain compatible across the product line and across time. 1991 Personal Computer World Feb. 245/4 Where people say IBM compatible now, Sun would like people to say Sun compatible. 2005 Future Mus. Winter 57/1 All tempo-grouped and compatible with your favourite music software. |
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▸ n. Computing. Hardware or software that is usable on or with a specified piece of equipment or software, esp. without adaptation or modification. Freq. with distinguishing word.
| [1965 Computer Bull. June 20/1 In addition to upward compatibility the Compatibles/100 offer users the protection of a more complete range of software.] 1972 Managem. Informatics 1 259/1 What are the advantages to be gained through the installation of plug-to-plug compatibles? 1983 Austral. Microcomputer Mag. Aug. 7/2 Leading Melbourne retailer Computer Edge was conspicuous for the Apples and Apple compatibles which have featured heavily in its advertising. 1991 Tear Times (Tear Fund) No. 52 19/2 The toner cartridges must be those for use with..Canon/Hewlett Packard laser printers (Series I and II) and their compatibles. 2001 Dallas Morning News (Nexis) 4 June d4 The company was losing the personal computer battle to IBM compatibles, and failing to capitalize on its respected brand in business services. |