interoperable

From interoperate +‎ -able; alternatively inter- +‎ operable.

interoperable (not comparable)

1. (computing) (of a system or device) Able to communicate, and exchange data with another system or device.
   • 2020 September 7, Cory Doctorow, “IP”, in Locus Magazine‎^[1]:

     Patents exist as incentive for inventors to reveal the workings of their inventions; to receive a patent, you must provide the patent office with a functional description of your invention, which is then published. Even though others may not copy your invention during the patent period, they can study your patent filings and use them to figure out how to do the same thing in different ways, or how to make an interoperable add-on to your invention.

   • 2022 October 13, Binyamin Appelbaum, “It Shouldn’t Matter So Much Whether Elon Musk Buys Twitter”, in The New York Times‎^[2], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 13 October 2022:

     A person with a Gmail account can send messages to a person with a Yahoo account because email systems are interoperable.

2. (especially military) Operationally compatible, e.g. with other armed forces.
   • 2025 July 23, Peter Plisner, “You say you want a revolution...”, in RAIL, number 1040, page 39:

     One of the key features associated with VLR [very light rail] vehicles is that they are not interoperable with main line trains. That is the domain of tram-trains.

• interoperate

interoperable m or f (masculine and feminine plural interoperables)

1. interoperable