Exchangeabilities

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The capacity or potential for items or values to be traded or interchanged in a marketplace
2. The quality of being interchangeable or the possibility to engage in reciprocal trade or transactions
3. The ability of commodities or services to be swapped or transferred, reflecting a trade relationship

Etymology: "Exchangeabilities" is simply the plural of "exchangeability," which names the quality of being exchangeable. That quality is built from "exchange," which came into English from Anglo-French "eschange" and ultimately from Latin "excambiare," meaning to barter or change something for something else, and the suffix "-ability," which turns an adjective such as "exchangeable" into a noun for the capacity to be done or undergone. Put together, the word describes how readily goods, values or units can be swapped in a market. The plural form is less common than the singular, because the singular already covers the general idea. Writers reach for the plural when they are comparing several distinct cases, such as different currencies or different kinds of assets, each with its own degree of interchangeability. The suffix is the same one found in words like "tangibility" and "credibility," so the construction is an ordinary English pattern rather than a specialist coinage.

Synonyms: interchangeabilities, substitutabilities, replaceabilities, convertibilities, mutabilities

Antonyms: immutabilities, invariabilities, fixities, stabilities, constants