interchangeable
Anything that can be interchanged; a substitute.
Adjective
- 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...
- 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...
Synonyms: equivalent
- Following each other in alternate succession; alternating.
Origin
Etymology tree English interchange Proto-Indo-European *-tḗr Proto-Indo-European *-dʰlom Proto-Indo-European *-dʰlis Proto-Italic *-ðlis Latin -bilis Latin -ābilis Old French -ablebor. Middle English -able English -able English interchangeable From interchange + -able.
Derived
interchangeability interchangeableness interchangeably noninterchangeable uninterchangeable
Noun
- Anything that can be interchanged; a substitute.