Portable

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
    

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]
    

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
    

portability
portable

   <operating system, programming> 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)
    

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