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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

interchangeable en · ADJ

Pronunciation

  • [ɪɾ̃ɚˈt͡ʃeɪnd͡ʒəbl̩] (General-American)
  • /ɪntɚˈt͡ʃeɪnd͡ʒəbl̩/ (General-American)
  • (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

Etymology tree English interchange Proto-Indo-European *-dʰlom Proto-Italic *-ðlom Proto-Italic *-ðlis Latin -bilis Latin -ābilis Old French -ablebor. Middle English -able English -able English interchangeable From interchange + -able.

Meanings

  1. (not-comparable) Freely substitutable; that may be swapped at will.
    • Eli Whitney's development of interchangeable parts was a breakthrough for modern manufacturing. Prior to that, each part had to be made custom.
    • Constructional features of the railbus include the use of rubber suspension for axlebox/underframe and underframe/body mountings, the use of B.U.T. power transmission equipment, many components of which are interchangeable with those on British Railways standard railcars, power-operated sliding doors, and an absence of normal sidebuffers or drawgear. 1958 April 14, “Diesel Railbus for British Railways”, in Railway Magazine, page 275:
    • Sometimes the same words mean opposite things. Sometimes the opposite is true. Shock absorbers are called shocks. Slow down and slow up are interchangeable. 1997, George Carlin, Brain Droppings, New York: Hyperion Books, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, →OL, page 104:
    • The English, until relatively recently, seem to have imagined “English” and “British” to be interchangeable, as if Britain was just a bigger England. 2014 September 16, Ian Jack, “Is this the end of Britishness”, in The Guardian:
  2. (not-comparable) Following each other in alternate succession; alternating.

Deriveds

interchangeability · noninterchangeable · interchangeableness · interchangeably · uninterchangeable

Synonyms

equivalent

Translations (23)

fi keskenään vaihtokelpoinen (freely substitutable) · nb utskiftbar (freely substitutable) · ro interschimbabil (freely substitutable) · es intercambiable (freely substitutable) · fi vaihtovuoroinen (freely substitutable) · de auswechselbar (freely substitutable) · uk взаємозамі́нний (freely substitutable) · it intercambiabile (freely substitutable) · fr interchangeable (freely substitutable) · hu felcserélhető (freely substitutable) · ro interșanjabil (freely substitutable) · gl intercambiable (freely substitutable) · hu egymással felcserélhető (freely substitutable) · nn utskiftbar (freely substitutable) · ru взаимозаменя́емый (freely substitutable) · ca intercanviable (freely substitutable) · pt intercambiável (freely substitutable) · bg взаимозаменяем (freely substitutable) · nl uitwisselbaar (freely substitutable) · de austauschbar (freely substitutable) · el εναλλάξιμος (freely substitutable) · it interscambiabile (freely substitutable) · ro substituibil (freely substitutable)

interchangeable en · NOUN

Pronunciation

  • [ɪɾ̃ɚˈt͡ʃeɪnd͡ʒəbl̩] (General-American)
  • /ɪntɚˈt͡ʃeɪnd͡ʒəbl̩/ (General-American)
  • (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

Etymology tree English interchange Proto-Indo-European *-dʰlom Proto-Italic *-ðlom Proto-Italic *-ðlis Latin -bilis Latin -ābilis Old French -ablebor. Middle English -able English -able English interchangeable From interchange + -able.

Meanings

  1. Anything that can be interchanged; a substitute.

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
interchangeables Number=Plur lexicographic