noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
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Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
Canada, General-American:/ˌvɜɹ.səˈtɪl.ɪ.ti/
New-Zealand:/ˌvøː.səˈtəl.ə.tiː/
Scotland:/ˌvɛɹ.səˈtɪl.ɪ.ti/
rhymes with -ɪlɪti
CMU ARPABET:V ER2 S AH0 T IH1 L AH0 T IY0
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
The property of being versatile or having many different abilities.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable, usually
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: versatileness, flexibility
Antonyms: unversatility
2
noun
Meaning 2
having a wide variety of skills
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: skillfulness
History
Etymology
Etymology tree English versatile Proto-Indo-European *-teh2 Proto-Indo-European *-ts Proto-Indo-European *-teh2ts Latin -itāsder. Old French -itebor. Middle English -ite English -ity English versatility From versatile + -ity.
Across languages
Translations
31 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Bulgarian:
многостранност
(mnogostrannost)
— the property of being versatile or having many different abilities
Catalan:
versatilitat
— the property of being versatile or having many different abilities
Dutch:
veelzijdigheid
— the property of being versatile or having many different abilities
Finnish:
monipuolisuus
— the property of being versatile or having many different abilities
French:
polyvalence
— the property of being versatile or having many different abilities
Galician:
versatilidade
— the property of being versatile or having many different abilities
Georgian:
მრავალმხრივობა
(mravalmxrivoba)
— the property of being versatile or having many different abilities
Georgian:
მრავალფეროვნება
(mravalperovneba)
— the property of being versatile or having many different abilities
Georgian:
მრავალფუნქციონალურობა
(mravalpunkcionaluroba)
— the property of being versatile or having many different abilities
German:
Vielseitigkeit
— the property of being versatile or having many different abilities
German:
Einsatzvielfalt
— the property of being versatile or having many different abilities
German:
vielseitige Anwendbarkeit
— the property of being versatile or having many different abilities
German:
Flexibilität
— the property of being versatile or having many different abilities
German:
Gewandtheit
— the property of being versatile or having many different abilities
Interlingua:
versatilitate
— the property of being versatile or having many different abilities
Irish:
ilfheidhmeacht
— the property of being versatile or having many different abilities
Irish:
ilúsáideacht
— the property of being versatile or having many different abilities
Irish:
ilchumas
— the property of being versatile or having many different abilities
Irish:
ildánacht
— the property of being versatile or having many different abilities
Italian:
versatilità
— the property of being versatile or having many different abilities
Macedonian:
сестраност
(sestranost)
— the property of being versatile or having many different abilities
Macedonian:
многустраност
(mnogustranost)
— the property of being versatile or having many different abilities
Polish:
uniwersalność
— the property of being versatile or having many different abilities
Polish:
wszechstronność
— the property of being versatile or having many different abilities
Portuguese:
versatilidade
— the property of being versatile or having many different abilities
Russian:
многосторонность
(mnogostoronnostʹ)
— the property of being versatile or having many different abilities
Russian:
разносторонность
(raznostoronnostʹ)
— the property of being versatile or having many different abilities
Spanish:
versatilidad
— the property of being versatile or having many different abilities
Swedish:
mångsidighet
— the property of being versatile or having many different abilities
Swedish:
ombytlighet
— the property of being versatile or having many different abilities
Swedish:
flexibilitet
— the property of being versatile or having many different abilities