versatile

From Latin versātilis (“turning easily”), from versātus, past participle of versō (“I turn, change”), frequentative of vertō (“I turn”).

• (General American, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈvɚ.sə.ɾəl/, /ˈvɚ.sə.təl/, /ˈvɚ.səˌtaɪl/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈvɜː.səˌtaɪl/, [ˈvɜː.səˌtaɪɫ]

• Audio (UK)

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versatile (comparative more versatile, superlative most versatile)

1. Capable of doing many things competently.
2. Having varied uses or many functions.
3. Changeable or inconstant.
4. (biology) Capable of moving freely in all directions.
   • 1996, William G. D'Arcy, edited by William G. D'Arcy and Richard C. Keating, The anther: form, function, and phylogeny:

     The versatile anther is an important step up in flowering plant evolution and it may be the most widespread of all simple anther types.

5. (gay slang) Capable of taking either a penetrative (top) or receptive (bottom) role in anal sex.

   Synonym: (India) double-decker

   • 2017, Simon LeVay, Gay, Straight, and the Reason why: The Science of Sexual Orientation‎:

     Among men who do engage in anal intercourse, about one-quarter are tops, one-quarter are bottoms, and one-half are versatile.

6. (BDSM) Being a switch; capable of taking either a dominant or a submissive role.
   • 2004, queenchaser1158, “Horny Versatile TV/TS Wanted in Phoenix”, in alt.personals.gay (Usenet):
7. (sex, broadly) Capable of being either a dominant or a submissive partner in a sexual relationship.

   Synonyms: vers, switchy

• “versatile”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “versatile”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “versatile”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

• levirates, relatives

From Latin versātilis.

• IPA^(key): /vɛʁ.sa.til/

• Audio

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versatile (plural versatiles)

1. versatile; easily changeable
2. indecisive

• versatilité

• “versatile”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

From Latin versātilis, from versāre (“to turn, to twist”).

• IPA^(key): /verˈsa.ti.le/
• Rhymes: -atile
• Hyphenation: ver‧sà‧ti‧le

versatile (plural versatili)

1. versatile
2. all-round, all around, multiskilled

• versatilità

• laveresti, rilevaste, rivaleste, rivelaste, servitela, versateli

versātile

1. nominative/accusative/vocative neuter singular of versātilis

• IPA^(key): /versaˈtile/

versatile f pl or n pl

1. nominative/accusative feminine/neuter plural of versatil