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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.
1490Caxton Eneydos xxii. (1890) 78 Y⊇ remembraunce greued hym ryght sorowfully by incytacion compatyble whiche admonnesteth hym to socoure this dolant lady. 1605Bacon Adv. Learning ii. ix. §3 The Infant in the mothers wombe is compatible with the mother, and yet separable. 1618G. 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.
1532More Confut. Tindale Wks. 485/1 Wedlocke and priesthod be not repugnant but compatible of their nature. 1563–87Foxe 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. 1589Puttenham 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. 1611Cotgr., Compatible, compatible, concurrable; which can abide, or agree together; or indure, or beare with, one another. 1636Healey Theophrast., Oligarchy 91 If any do them affront or iniurie, He and I (say they) are not compatible in this City. a1745Broome (J.), Our poets have joined together such qualities as are by nature the most compatible. 1754Richardson Grandison I. xxxvi. 259 Can friendship and reserve be compatible? 1884Contemp. Rev. Oct. 524 It develops..all sorts of energies and capacities..with all compatible fulness and efficiency.
b. Const. with.
1641Baker Chron. Edw. III, an. 1347 (R.) An honour out of his way, and scarce compatible with his state at home. 1688Miege Fr. Dict. s.v., Heat is compatible with Moisture. 1794Ld. Auckland's Corr. (1862) III. 196 Every reform that was compatible..with order and good government. 1855Macaulay 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.)
1623Jas. 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. 1668Howe Bless Righteous (1825) 88 A pleasure compatible to a creature. 1690Locke Hum. Und. ii. xiii. §13 Neither of these ways of Separation..is, as I think, compatible to pure Space. a1714Sharp 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).
1899Practitioner Dec. 622 The apparently isomeric sulphocarbolates of zinc and sodium do not react as sulphates, and are compatible with lead salts. 1926Jrnl. 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. 1929Hackh Chem. Dict. 195/1 Compatible, any pair of drugs which do not interfere or react chemically, physically or therapeutically with one another. 1935Biol. Abstr. 5627 Vigorous scions of pears are more compatible because they become more readily adapted to the high conc. of protoplasm in the rootstocks. 1938Fritsch & 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. 1940Chambers's Techn. Dict. 183/1 Compatible (Bot.), capable of self-fertilisation. 1949Radio Corp. Amer. Rev. X. 523 The all-electronic color television system described is a fully compatible system. 1953Gloss. 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. 1955Gouriet 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. 1958Times 20 Jan. 10/4 Stereophonic records will not be ‘compatible’, that is, able to be played on ordinary gramophones. 1958Listener 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. 1966Melody Maker 8 Oct. 13/1 All Musicassettes are compatible which means they can be played on mono or stereo equipment. 1969Lancet 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.
1559in Strype Ann. Ref. I. xiv. 186 Being presented to such churches compatible, over and above his principal cure. 1872O. Shipley Gloss. Eccl. Terms 65.
▸ 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.
1960Communications 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. 1962D. 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. 1981Electronics 10 Mar. 165/1 Software supported by the operating system will remain compatible across the product line and across time. 1991Personal Computer World Feb. 245/4 Where people say IBM compatible now, Sun would like people to say Sun compatible. 2005Future Mus. Winter 57/1 All tempo-grouped and compatible with your favourite music software.
▸ 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.
[1965Computer Bull. June 20/1 In addition to upward compatibility the Compatibles/100 offer users the protection of a more complete range of software.] 1972Managem. Informatics 1 259/1 What are the advantages to be gained through the installation of plug-to-plug compatibles? 1983Austral. 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. 1991Tear 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. 2001Dallas 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. |