fungible

English

WOTD – 27 June 2009

Etymology

1765 as noun, 1818 as adjective, from Medieval Latin fungibilis, from Latin fungor (I perform, I discharge a duty) (English function) + -ible (able to). Originally legal term.[1]

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈfʌndʒɪbəl/, /ˈfʌndʒɪbl/
  • Rhymes: -ɪbəl, -ɪbl

Adjective

fungible (comparative more fungible, superlative most fungible)

  1. (finance and commerce) Able to be substituted for something of equal value or utility; interchangeable, exchangeable, replaceable.
    • 1876 [1877], Samuel Dana Horton, Silver and Gold and Their Relation to the Problem of Resumption, page 116:
      Gold is fungible. Silver is fungible; that is, these metals are both so homogeneous that, if I get a pound of pure gold, for example, it is indifferent to me whether it be this pound or that pound, one is as good as another
    • 2011, Will Self, “The frowniest spot on Earth”, London Review of Books, XXXIII.9:
      At the core of Kasarda’s conception of the aerotropolis lies the notion that space – unlike time – is fungible.

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

fungible (plural fungibles)

  1. (chiefly in the plural) Any fungible item.

References

  1. fungible” in Douglas Harper, Online Etymology Dictionary, 2001–2019.

Anagrams


Catalan

Etymology

From Latin fungor (discharge a duty) + -ible.

Adjective

fungible (masculine and feminine plural fungibles)

  1. fungible

German

Adjective

fungible

  1. inflected form of fungibel
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