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Glite Dictionary
Y2K compliant

Y2K compliant

1 3.9
Able to handle dates around the year 2000 correctly
  • adjective
  • /ˌwaɪ tuː keɪ kəmˈplaɪənt/
  • Archaic
translation icon : compatible con Y2K
  • To prevent any issues, businesses must ensure their databases are Y2K compliant.

Examples

  • The company's software update ensured that all systems are now Y2K compliant.

  • The version of Unix used was not Y2K compliant and would need to be replaced.

    Academic text (2000)

  • The device is CE approved and Y2K compliant.

    Academic text (1999)

  • Products are CE approved and Y2K compliant.

    Academic text (1999)

  • All new computers sold in 1999 were required to be Y2K compliant.

Surface Forms

Y2K compliant positive

Morphology

Y2K + compliant

This phrase is directly compositional: 'Y2K' names the year-2000/millennium-bug issue and 'compliant' means conforming to requirements, so together it straightforwardly means 'conforms to Y2K requirements / can handle year-2000 dates'. The 'X-compliant' pattern is a productive, transparent adjective formation in English (and mirrored in other languages), so a B1 learner who knows both constituents can reasonably infer the meaning.

Etymology

Y2K compliant comes from a real problem in the late 1990s when many old computers saved years with only two digits, so they might read '00' as 1900 instead of the 'year 2000'. So a system described as Y2K compliant had its dates fixed to work correctly when the clock reached 2000.