compatible
/kəmˈpæt.ə.bəl/adjective, noun
compatible is spelled C-O-M-P-A-T-I-B-L-E. The wrong spelling people search most is compatable: about 370 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 10 of all searches for the word. Compatible is an adjective meaning “Capable of working together without conflict”.
How many letters and syllables are in compatible?
| Letters | 10: C-O-M-P-A-T-I-B-L-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 9.3 times per million words; the 7,445th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 2; the most searched, compatable, about 370 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; 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).
How do you spell compatible?
Compatible is spelled C-O-M-P-A-T-I-B-L-E. 2 wrong spellings are searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 2 in 10 of the searches for compatible 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 compatible?
Compatible appears 9.3 times per million words in written English, the 7,445th 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 compatible?
- US /kəmˈpæt.ə.bəl/
- US [km̩ˈpæt.ə.bl̩]
Compatible has 4 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-compatible.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of compatible
- more compatible comparative
- most compatible superlative
- compatibles plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does compatible mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Capable of working together without conflict.
This printer isn't compatible with my computer.
- 2
Able to get along well.
My neighbours and I are not very compatible: they're loud and I'm an introvert.
- 3
Consistent; congruous.
His actions were compatible with his sermons.
noun
- 1
Something that is compatible with something else.
a computer company that sells IBM compatibles
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Compatible in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense capable of easy interaction:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | compatible |
| German | austauschbar, fähig, kompatibel, verträglich, vereinbar |
| Portuguese | compatível |
| Spanish | compatible |
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 compatible come from?
Inherited from Middle English compatible, fron Anglo-Norman compatible, from Medieval Latin compatibilis (“in compatibile beneficium, a benefice which could be held together with another one”), from Late Latin compator (“to suffer with”), from com- (“together”) + pati (“to suffer”); see passion.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).