Fungible is a hot-button word with the advent of bitcoin and NFTs. But what is the meaning of fungible, and how does it relate to asset ownership?
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Kevin
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February 25, 2022
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Common Questions
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The word fungible is often heard about non-fungible tokens and other things that have non-fungibility. What does this word mean, and how is it used concerning cryptocurrencies and NFTs? Keep reading this article about the word fungible to learn more.
What Does the Word Fungible Mean?
According to Dictionary, the word fungible is an adjective that means by law returnable or freely exchangeable with something else of the same kind. This word is often used in law. The word fungible is three syllables (fun-gi-ble), and the pronunciation of fungible is fuhn-juh-buhl.
The word fungible is often heard with the prefix non to form the word non-fungible. Something non-fungible cannot be replaced with something of the same kind and is wholly unique. While both are related to cryptocurrency, bitcoin is fungible, whereas NFTs are non-fungible tokens. The word fungible is used in law and economics and can also refer to non-fungible tasks.
What Is an NFT?
NFT stands for non-fungible token. This is often a piece of digital art like a drawing or music recording that is one-of-a-kind and part of the Ethereum blockchain. To think of it in simple terms, an NFT is like a one-of-a-kind token.
You can think of an NFT like the substitution of rare Pokémon cards or trading cards purchased by a digital wallet. In this commodity exchange, trading one card for another means that you end up with a completely different card. These individual units are moveable perishable goods.
Creators and buyers of NFTs are not like owners of diamonds or quartz, where one piece can be exchanged for another and hold the same value for an equal amount and grade. The satisfaction of owning NFTs on internet marketplaces comes from their uniqueness and liquidity.
The way NFTs work on the open market can be confusing, and they are often purchased on platforms like Nifty Gateway and OpenSea. Some people think that the fees people are paying for GIFs and JPEGs is astronomical, while others think that NFTs are the currency of the future.
What Are Translations of the Word Fungible?
The idea of fungibility and non-fungible tokens are not only English concepts. This phrase is used around the word to refer to things that are returnable or freely exchangeable with something else of the same kind. To learn how to talk about fungibility with people who do not speak English, you can get started with this list of transitions of fungible from Nice Translator:
- Japanese – 面白い
- Ukrainian – фунгіцид
- Arabic – قابلة للاستبدال
- Swahili – fungible
- Czech – nahraditelný
- Thai – เชื้อรา
- Norwegian – fungible
- Russian – Взаимозаменяемыми
- Lithuanian – keičiamos
- Welsh – ffyngau
- Turkish – mantar gibi
- German – fungibel
- Slovak – nahraditeľný
- Icelandic – fungible
- Croatian – zamjenjivo
- Vietnamese – có thể thay thế
- Afrikaans – fungible
- Hindi – कवकीय
- Chinese | S – 可互换
- Romanian – Fungibile
- Spanish – fungible
- Latvian – atvietojams
- Korean – 곰팡이
- Bulgarian – fungible
- Hebrew – ניתן להפיך
- Cantonese – 可互換
- Finnish – korvattavissa
- Portuguese – fungível
- Maltese – funġibbli
- Catalan – fungible
- Swedish – Utbytbara
- Chinese | T – 可互換
- Dutch – fungibel
- Polish – zamienny
- Serbian – gljive
- Hungarian – helyettesíthető
- Estonian – vahetatud
- Slovenian – fungible
- French – fongible
- Greek – μυκητοί
- Malay – kulat
- Italian – fungibile
- Persian – قابل استفاده
- Danish – Ombyttelige
What Is the Etymology of the Word Fungible?
According to Your Dictionary, the word fungible has Latin origins. The word fungible stems from the Medieval Latin fungibilis, Latin fungor, and the Latin fungī.
How Can the Word Fungible Be Used in a Sentence?
Take a look at these example sentences containing fungible:
Christie was a complete baby when her non-fungible token of the NBA Top Shot was sold for far less than she paid for it.
The farmer thought that his grain would be fungible with his neighbor’s. After all, they had the same kind of grain and quantity of grain. However, the customers thought there was something different about them.
What Are Synonyms of the Word Fungible?
Power Thesaurus states many words that can be used in place of fungible. These words are called synonyms. You can use these synonyms in place of the word fungible if you are trying to explain what fungible means or if you feel you have overused the word:
- akin
- alike
- allied
- analogous
- approaching
- approximating
- changeable
- close
- coextensive
- cognate
- coincident
- commensurate
- commutable
- comparable
- compatible
- complementary
- conformable
- conforming
- congeneric
- congenerous
- congenial
- congruous
- connate
- connatural
- consistent
- consonant
- convertible
- correlative
- correspondent
- corresponding
- cross-functional
- ditto
- equivalent
- exchangeable
- interchangeable
- interconvertible
- reciprocal
- replaceable
- returnable
- substitutable
- switchable
- synonymous
- transmutable
- transposable
- workalike
What Are Antonyms of the Word Fungible?
Power Thesaurus also lists antonyms of fungible. These words have the opposite meaning of the word fungible. If someone is confused by what you mean when you say non-fungible, you can use one of these antonyms to clarify:
- conflicting
- contradictory
- contrasting
- contrastive
- deviating
- discrepant
- disparate
- dissimilar
- divergent
- hard and fast
- hard-and-fast
- incommutable
- incompatible
- incongruous
- inconsistent
- inconvertible
- incorrect
- indivisible
- inharmonious
- irreconcilable
- irredeemable
- irreplaceable
- mismated
- noninterchangeable
- opposite
- unalike
- uncongenial
- unconvertible
- unexchangeable
- unreplaceable
Conclusion
Overall, the word fungible is an adjective that refers to the concept of something being returnable or exchangeable for something equivalent in nature and quantity. The word fungible is often used about NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, which are one-of-a-kind digital art pieces.
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