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incompatibility (n.)
1610s, from incompatible + -ity, or from French incompatibilité (15c.).
Entries linking to incompatibility
incompatible (adj.)"that cannot coexist or be conjoined," mid-15c., from Medieval Latin incompatibilis, from in- "not, opposite of" (see in- (1)) + compatibilis (see compatible). Originally of benefices, "incapable of being held together;" sense of "mutually intolerant" is from 1590s. Related: Incompatibly.
-ity
word-forming element making abstract nouns from adjectives and meaning "condition or quality of being ______," from Middle English -ite, from Old French -ete (Modern French -ité) and directly from Latin -itatem (nominative -itas), suffix denoting state or condition, composed of -i- (from the stem or else a connective) + the common abstract suffix -tas (see -ty (2)).
Roughly, the word in -ity usually means the quality of being what the adjective describes, or concretely an instance of the quality, or collectively all the instances; & the word in -ism means the disposition, or collectively all those who feel it. [Fowler]
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Definitions of incompatibility
incompatibility (n.)
the relation between propositions that cannot both be true at the same time;
incompatibility (n.)
(immunology) the degree to which the body's immune system will try to reject foreign material (as transfused blood or transplanted tissue);
incompatibility (n.)
the quality of being unable to exist or work in congenial combination;
Dictionary entries near incompatibility
incommunicability
incommunicable
incommunicado
incomparability
incomparable
incompatibility
incompatible
incompetence
incompetency
incompetent
incomplete