compatibility.

The ability of things, requirements or people to coexist or function together without a relevant conflict.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• system compatibility
• compatibility of requirements

On the page

System compatibility was necessary before the devices could be used in the same installation.

The committee checked compatibility of requirements rather than assuming that individually reasonable rules would agree.

Usage notes

Primary category: academic / formal. Forms: Usually uncountable. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Writing functions: definition, comparison, qualification, causal analysis. Disciplines: academic writing, institutional analysis, general research. Commonness: moderately common.