No ‘pity’ in incompatibility

Two things are incompatible when they cannot exist or be used together. Likewise, two people who are unable to have a harmonious relationship are incompatible, explains www.askoxford.com. What is incompatible is ‘not suitable for combination, simultaneous administration, or transplantation; mutually repellent,’ instructs Dorland’s Medical Dictionary for Healthcare Consumers (www.mercksource.com).

Top ‘news’ finds about ‘incompatibility’ speak of ‘celebrity break-ups,’ such as that of Sania Mirza, ahead of stories relating to hardware and software incompatibility issues.

Nolo’s Plain-English Law Dictionary (www.nolo.com) defines incompatibility as ‘a conflict in personalities that makes married life together impossible. In a number of states, incompatibility is the accepted reason for a no-fault divorce.’

During the revolution in France, incompatibility of temper was deemed a sufficient cause for divorcing man and wife, informs the 1828 Noah Webster’s Dictionary (http://1828.mshaffer.com).

You can trace ‘incompatible’ back to 1563, with origins in Medieval Latin incompatibilis. “Originally of benefices, ‘incapable of being held together;’ sense of ‘mutually intolerant’ is from 1592,” reads a helpful entry in www.etymonline.com. Interestingly, ‘compatible’ is a word with older roots in compati (to feel pity) and compassion.

A rewarding research, you’d agree, than going into why people break up.