Interchangeable

How to spell interchangeable

15 letters · 5 syllables

How to pronounce interchangeable

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does interchangeable mean?

1. adjectiveAble to be swapped for something else without any noticeable difference in use or effect.

Interchangeable in a sentence

• The printer uses interchangeable ink cartridges that fit several models.

• In casual speech the two terms are almost interchangeable in meaning.

Where does interchangeable come from?

Language of origin: French

This word is built from three pieces that came into English at different times. The core, 'change', arrived through Old French 'changier', which descended from the Late Latin verb 'cambiare', meaning 'to exchange' or 'to barter'; that Latin verb is itself often traced to a Celtic root for trading and swapping. The prefix 'inter-' is the Latin word for 'between' or 'among', so 'interchange' literally meant a swapping back and forth between parties, a sense recorded in English from the late 1300s. The ending '-able', also from Latin via French, simply means 'capable of being'. Put together in the 1600s, 'interchangeable' came to describe things that can be swapped for one another without any difference. The spelling trap lives in the middle and the end: the soft 'g' of 'change' is kept whole, so the silent 'e' survives before '-able', giving 'change' plus 'able', not 'changable'.

How the word is built

• inter- (between, among)
• change (root, from Latin cambiare 'to exchange')
• -able (capable of being)