compatibility
com·pat·i·bil·i·ty/kəmˌpætəˈbɪləti/noun
compatibility is spelled C-O-M-P-A-T-I-B-I-L-I-T-Y, 6 syllables: com·pat·i·bil·i·ty. The wrong spelling people search most is compatability: about 340 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 10 of all searches for the word. Compatibility is a noun meaning “The state of being compatible; in which two or more things are able to exist or work together in combination…”. The plural of compatibility is compatibilities.
How many letters and syllables are in compatibility?
| Letters | 13: C-O-M-P-A-T-I-B-I-L-I-T-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 6: com·pat·i·bil·i·ty |
| In writing | 3.9 times per million words; the 13,127th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 5; the most searched, compatability, about 340 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How do you spell compatibility?
Compatibility is spelled C-O-M-P-A-T-I-B-I-L-I-T-Y. 5 wrong spellings are searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 2 in 10 of the searches for compatibility in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is compatibility?
Compatibility appears 3.9 times per million words in written English, the 13,127th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce compatibility?
- UK /kəmˌpætəˈbɪlɪti/
- US /kəmˌpætəˈbɪləti/
- US [kəmˌpæɾəˈbɪləɾi]
Compatibility has 6 syllables, split com·pat·i·bil·i·ty in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-compatibility.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with compatibility?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as compatibility from its last stressed vowel (/ɪləti/):
- responsibility
- possibility
- capability
- probability
- accountability
- fertility
- sustainability
- eligibility
- instability
- vulnerability
- accessibility
- volatility
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of compatibility
- compatibilities plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does compatibility mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The state of being compatible; in which two or more things are able to exist or work together in combination without problems or conflict.
- 2
the capability of two or more items or components of equipment or material to exist or function in the same system or environment without mutual interference.
- 3
the ability to execute a given program on different types of computers without modification of the program or the computers. See backward compatibility and forward compatibility.
- 4
the capability that allows the substitution of one subsystem (storage facility), or of one functional unit (e.g., hardware, software), for the originally designated system or functional unit in a relatively transparent manner, without loss of information and without the introduction of errors.
- 5
the continuity or good fit of material or members or components while being deformed.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Compatibility in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense capability to exist without mutual interference:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | compatibilité |
| German | Vereinbarkeit, Kompatibilität |
| Portuguese | compatibilidade |
| Spanish | compatibilidad |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does compatibility come from?
Borrowed from New Latin compatibilitās. By surface analysis, compatible + -ity.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).