fungible

English

WOTD – 27 June 2009

Etymology

1765 as noun, 1818 as adjective, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Medieval Latin fungibilis, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Latin fungor (“I perform, I discharge a duty”) (English function) +‎ -ible (“able to”). Originally legal term.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfʌndʒɪbəl/, /ˈfʌndʒɪbl/
• Rhymes: -ɪbəl, -ɪbl

Adjective

fungible (comparative more fungible, superlative most fungible)

1. (finance and commerce) Able to be substituted for something of equal value or utility; interchangeable, exchangeable, replaceable.
   • 1649, Antony Ascham, Of the confusions and revolutions of governments, 30:

     Take away this fungible instrument from the service of our necessities and how shall we exercise our Charity, which is a branch of Religion and Justice, as well as of Humanity?

   • 1876 [1877], Samuel Dana Horton, Silver and Gold and Their Relation to the Problem of Resumption, page 116:

     Gold is fungible. Silver is fungible; that is, these metals are both so homogeneous that, if I get a pound of pure gold, for example, it is indifferent to me whether it be this pound or that pound, one is as good as another

   • 2011, Will Self, “The frowniest spot on Earth”, London Review of Books, XXXIII.9:

     At the core of Kasarda’s conception of the aerotropolis lies the notion that space – unlike time – is fungible.

Derived terms

• fungibility

Translations

able to be substituted for something of equal value

• Armenian: փոխարինելի (hy) (pʻoxarineli)
• Bulgarian: взаимозамени́м (vzaimozamením)
• Catalan: fungible
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Czech: zaměnitelný, směnitelný
• Danish: fungibel
• Dutch: vervangbaar (nl), fungibel
• Finnish: vaihtokelpoinen, vaihdettava (fi), laji-, fungiibeli (fi)
• French: fongible (fr)
• German: fungibel (de), vertretbar (de) (legal jargon)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Hungarian: helyettesíthető (hu), felcserélhető (hu)
• Icelandic: jafngengur, útskiptanlegur
• Macedonian: вое́дначен (voédnačen), за́менлив (zámenliv)
• Polish: zamienny (pl) m, zamienialny m
• Portuguese: substituível, fungível (pt) m
• Romanian: fungibil (ro) m or n
• Russian: взаимозамени́мый (ru) (vzaimozamenímyj), взаимозаменя́емый (ru) (vzaimozamenjájemyj), замени́мый (ru) (zamenímyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: co-mhalairteach
• Slovak: nahraditeľný
• Spanish: fungible (es)

Noun

fungible (plural fungibles)

1. (chiefly in the plural) Any fungible item.

Anagrams

• bingeful

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Catalan

Etymology

From Medieval Latin fungibilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [fuɲˈʒib.blə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [fuɲˈd͡ʒi.ble]

Adjective

fungible m or f (masculine and feminine plural fungibles)

1. fungible

Further reading

• “fungible” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “fungible”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
• “fungible” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “fungible” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

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German

Adjective

fungible

1. inflection of fungibel:
   1. strong/mixed nominative/accusative feminine singular
   2. strong nominative/accusative plural
   3. weak nominative all-gender singular
   4. weak accusative feminine/neuter singular

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Spanish

Etymology

From Latin fungī (“to perform”). Cognate with fungible.

Adjective

fungible m or f (masculine and feminine plural fungibles)

1. fungible, expendable, consumable (exchangeable)

Related terms

• fungir
• función
• defunción