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American Dictionary of the English Language

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Incompatible


INCOMPAT'IBLE, adjective [Latin in and competo, to suit, to be proper or convenient; con and peto, to press toward, to seek, or press on. It was formerly incompetible.]

1. Inconsistent; that cannot subsist with something else. Thus, truth and falsehood are essentially incompatible as are virtue and vice. A degree of cold that congeals water is incompatible with vegetation. Dissipation is incompatible with health, reputation and virtue.

2. Irreconcilably different or disagreeing; incongruous; as incompatible tempers.

3. Legally or constitutionally inconsistent; that cannot be united in the same person, without violating the law or constitution. By our constitution, the offices of a legislator and of a judge are incompatible as they cannot be held at the same time by the same person.