interchangeable

English

Etymology

interchange +‎ -able

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪntɚˈtʃeɪndʒəbl̩/, [ɪɾ̃ɚˈtʃeɪndʒəbl̩]

Adjective

interchangeable (not comparable)

1. 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.

   • 2014, Ian Jack, "Is this the end of Britishness", The Guardian, 16 September 2014:

     The English, until relatively recently, seem to have imagined “English” and “British” to be interchangeable, as if Britain was just a bigger England.

2. Following each other in alternate succession; alternating.

Derived terms

• interchangeability
• interchangeably

Translations

freely substitutable

• Bulgarian: взаимозаменяем (vzaimozamenjaem)
• Catalan: intercanviable
• Dutch: uitwisselbaar (nl)
• Finnish: keskenään vaihtokelpoinen, vaihtovuoroinen
• French: interchangeable (fr)
• German: austauschbar, auswechselbar
• Hungarian: felcserélhető (hu), egymással felcserélhető (hu)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Italian: intercambiabile (it), interscambiabile
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: utskiftbar

  Nynorsk: utskiftbar

• Portuguese: intercambiável m or f
• Russian: взаимозаменя́емый (ru) (vzaimozamenjájemyj)
• Spanish: intercambiable (es)

alternating

• Bulgarian: редуващ се (reduvašt se)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

Noun

interchangeable (plural interchangeables)

1. Anything that can be interchanged; a substitute.

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French

Etymology

From interchanger +‎ -able

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛ̃.tɛʁ.ʃɑ̃.ʒabl/

Adjective

interchangeable (plural interchangeables)

1. interchangeable, substitutable

Further reading

• “interchangeable”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.