Wordnet 3.0
NOUN (1)
1.
a small light typewriter;
usually with a case in which it can be carried;
ADJECTIVE (2)
1.
easily or conveniently transported;
- Example: "a portable television set"2.
of a motor designed to be attached to the outside of a boat's hull;
- Example: "a portable outboard motor"
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Portable \Port"a*ble\, a. [L. portabilis, fr. portare to carry:
cf. F. portable. See Port demeanor.]
1. Capable of being borne or carried; easily transported;
conveyed without difficulty; as, a portable bed, desk,
engine. --South.
[1913 Webster]
2. Possible to be endured; supportable. [Obs.]
[1913 Webster]
How light and portable my pain seems now! --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
Portable forge. See under Forge.
Portable steam engine. See under Steam engine.
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
portable
adj 1: easily or conveniently transported; "a portable
television set" [ant: unportable]
2: of a motor designed to be attached to the outside of a boat's
hull; "a portable outboard motor"
n 1: a small light typewriter; usually with a case in which it
can be carried
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:
35 Moby Thesaurus words for "portable":
assignable, carriable, communicable, compact, conductive,
consignable, contagious, convenient, conveyable, expressable,
handy, impartable, interchangeable, light, lightweight, little,
mailable, manageable, metathetic, movable, pocket, pocket-sized,
portative, removable, small, transferable, transfusable,
transmissible, transmissive, transmittable, transportable,
transportative, transposable, vest-pocket, wieldy
The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (30 December 2018):
portability
portable
The ease with which a piece of
software (or file format) can be "ported", i.e. made to run
on a new platform and/or compile with a new compiler.
The most important factor is the language in which the
software is written and the most portable language is almost
certainly C (though see Vaxocentrism for counterexamples).
This is true in the sense that C compilers are available for
most systems and are often the first compiler provided for a
new system. This has led several compiler writers to compile
other languages to C code in order to benefit from its
portability (as well as the quality of compilers available for
it).
The least portable type of language is obviously assembly
code since it is specific to one particular (family of)
processor(s). It may be possible to translate mechanically
from one assembly code (or even machine code) into another
but this is not really portability. At the other end of the
scale would come interpreted or semi-compiled languages
such as LISP or Java which rely on the availability of a
portable interpreter or virtual machine written in a lower
level language (often C for the reasons outlined above).
The act or result of porting a program is called a "port".
E.g. "I've nearly finished the Pentium port of my big bang
simulation."
Portability is also an attribute of file formats and depends
on their adherence to standards (e.g. ISO 8859) or the
availability of the relevant "viewing" software for different
platforms (e.g. PDF).
(1997-06-18)
The Devil's Dictionary (1881-1906):
PORTABLE, adj. Exposed to a mutable ownership through vicissitudes of
possession.
His light estate, if neither he did make it
Nor yet its former guardian forsake it,
Is portable improperly, I take it.
Worgum Slupsky