versatile

• POS: Adjective
• HYPHEN: ver=sa=tile

CIDE DICTIONARY

versatile, a. [L. versatilis, fr. versare to turn around, v. freq. of vertere: cf. F. versatile. See Verse.].

•  Capable of being turned round.  Harte.  [1913 Webster]
•  Liable to be turned in opinion; changeable; variable; unsteady; inconstant; as, a versatile disposition.  [1913 Webster]
•  Turning with ease from one thing to another; readily applied to a new task, or to various subjects; many-sided; as, versatile genius; a versatile politician.  [1913 Webster]

  "Conspicuous among the youths of high promise . . . was the quick and versatile [Charles] Montagu."  [1913 Webster]
•  Capable of turning; freely movable; as, a versatile anther, which is fixed at one point to the filament, and hence is very easily turned around; a versatile toe of a bird.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

versatile, adj.
1 turning easily or readily from one subject or occupation to another; capable of dealing with many subjects (a versatile mind).
2 (of a device etc.) having many uses.
3 Bot. & Zool. moving freely about or up and down on a support (versatile antenna).
4 archaic changeable, inconstant.

Derivative

versatilely adv. versatility n.

Etymology

F versatile or L versatilis (as VERSANT)

THESAURUS

versatile

able, accessible, accomplished, adaptable, adjustable, adroit, all-around, ambidextrous, amphibious, at hand, available, changeable, changing, convenient, conversant, coquettish, dexterous, elastic, facile, faddish, fickle, flexible, flighty, flirtatious, fluctuating, generally capable, gifted, handy, inconstant, light, many-sided, mercurial, mobile, multifaceted, of all work, on call, on deck, on hand, on tap, plastic, pliable, protean, quicksilver, ready, resourceful, skilled, skillful, skittish, supple, talented, to hand, toying, two-handed, undependable, unpredictable, unreliable, vacillating, variable, volatile, well-rounded

ROGET THESAURUS

versatile

Changeableness

N changeableness, mutability, inconstancy, versatility, mobility, instability, unstable equilibrium, vacillation, fluctuation, vicissitude, alternation, restlessness, fidgets, disquiet, disquietude, inquietude, unrest, agitation, moon, Proteus, chameleon, quicksilver, shifting sands, weathercock, harlequin, Cynthia of the minute, April showers, wheel of Fortune, transientness, changeable, changeful, changing, mutable, variable, checkered, ever changing, protean, proteiform, versatile, unstaid, inconstant, unsteady, unstable, unfixed, unsettled, fluctuating, restless, agitated, erratic, fickle, irresolute, capricious, touch and go, inconsonant, fitful, spasmodic, vibratory, vagrant, wayward, desultory, afloat, alternating, alterable, plastic, mobile, transient, wavering, seesaw, off and on, a rolling stone gathers no moss, pictra mossa non fa muschis, honores mutant mores, varium et mutabile semper femina.