different between volatile vs mutable

English

Etymology

From Middle French volatile, from Latin vol?tilis (“flying; swift; temporary; volatile”), from vol? (“I fly”).

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /?v?l.?.tl?/, /?v?l.??ta?.?l/, [?v?.l?.???]
• (UK) IPA^(key): /?v?l.??ta?.(?)l/

Adjective

volatile (comparative more volatile, superlative most volatile)

2. (physics) Evaporating or vaporizing readily under normal conditions.
3. (of a substance, informal) Explosive.
4. (of a price etc) Variable or erratic.
5. (of a person) Quick to become angry or violent.

6. Fickle.
7. Temporary or ephemeral.
8. (of a situation) Potentially violent.
9. (computing, of a variable) Having its associated memory immediately updated with any changes in value.
10. (computing, of memory) Whose content is lost when the computer is powered down
11. (obsolete) Passing through the air on wings, or by the buoyant force of the atmosphere; flying; having the power to fly.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:ephemeral

Derived terms

• volatility
• volatile memory

Translations

Noun

volatile (plural volatiles)

1. A chemical or compound that changes into a gas easily.

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /v?.la.til/

Adjective

volatile

1. feminine singular of volatil
2. Alternative spelling of volatil, as a masculine singular

Noun

volatile m (plural volatiles)

1. fowl, bird

Further reading

• “volatile” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

German

Pronunciation

Adjective

volatile

1. inflection of volatil:
   1. strong/mixed nominative/accusative feminine singular
   2. strong nominative/accusative plural
   3. weak nominative all-gender singular
   4. weak accusative feminine/neuter singular

Italian

Etymology

From Latin vol?tilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /vo?la.ti.le/

Adjective

volatile (plural volatili)

1. (chemistry, physics) volatile
2. flying

   Synonym: volante

Noun

volatile m (plural volatili)

1. bird, fowl

   Synonym: uccello

Further reading

• volatile in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /u?o?la?.ti.le/, [u?????ä?t?????]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /vo?la.ti.le/, [v??l??t?il?]

Adjective

vol?tile

1. nominative neuter singular of vol?tilis
2. accusative neuter singular of vol?tilis
3. vocative neuter singular of vol?tilis

References

• volatile in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)

English

Etymology

From Latin mutabilis (“liable to change”); mutate +? -able.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?mju?t?bl?/
• Homophone: muteable

Adjective

mutable (comparative more mutable, superlative most mutable)

1. Changeable, dynamic, evolutive; inclined to change, evolve, mutate.
   • 1608, William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Coriolanus, [Act III, scene i]:

     For the mutable ranke-?ented Meynie, / Let them regard me, as I doe not flatter, / And therein behold them?elues.
2. (programming, of a variable) Having a value that is changeable during program execution.
   • 2011, David Flanagan, JavaScript: The Definitive Guide:

     A value of a mutable type can change. Objects and arrays are mutable: a JavaScript program can change the values of object properties and array elements. Numbers, booleans, null, and undefined are immutable.

3. (astrology) Being one of the signs Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius and Pisces, associated with adaptability, flexibility and sympathy.

   Synonym: bicorporeal

Antonyms

• immutable

Translations

See also

• alterable
• nonimmutable

Noun

mutable (plural mutables)

1. Something mutable; a variable or value that can change.
   • 1990, Kenneth D. Bailey, Social Entropy Theory (page 281)

     Hypothesis 6.14: Entropy levels within the social group may vary but must be maintained below maximum entropy on certain relevant variables (e.g., on the six globals and five mutables).

Anagrams

• atumble

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /my.tabl/

Adjective

mutable (plural mutables)

1. mutable, changeable
2. (programming) mutable

Further reading

• “mutable” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mu?table/, [mu?t?a.??le]

Adjective

mutable (plural mutables)

1. Rare form of mudable.

Further reading

• “mutable” in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014.