See Also: Portable(medicine)
Portable(money)
portable(dictionary)
portable radiography(medicine)
Research portable(money)
Portable Alpha(finance)
Research portable(finance)
portable 1, adjective(dictionary)
portable 2, noun(dictionary)

portable (iou)



portable adjective & noun. LME.
[Old & mod. French, or late Latin portabilis, from portare bear, carry: see PORT verb1, -ABLE.]
A. adjective.
Able to be carried by hand or on the person; easily moved, carried, or conveyed. Also, (of a piece of apparatus, a device, etc.) of a form smaller and lighter than usual, so as to be easily carried about. LME.
portable computer, portable radio, portable television, portable typewriter, etc.
J. Hersey Carrying all the portable things from his church.
b. spec. Of a normally gaseous or liquid substance: liquefied or solidified so as to be more conveniently carried or transported. M18.
c. Of a building etc.: temporary, able to be dismantled and rebuilt elsewhere. L18.
d. Of a right, privilege, etc.: able to be transferred or adapted in changed circumstances; spec. (of a pension) transferable between or independent of individual employers. M20.
e. Computing. Of software: not restricted to one machine or system; able to be transferred from one machine or system to another. L20.
Bearable, tolerable, endurable. LME-M17.
Of a river etc.: capable of carrying ships or boats; navigable. Only in 17.
b. noun. That which is portable; a portable object, as a television, typewriter, etc. L19.
porta'bility noun M17.
portableness noun E18.
portably adverb M20.