Portatifs

Portatifs is the plural of portatif, an adjective and noun in French that designates objects designed to be easily carried. In general use, a portatif is something portable or transportable, as opposed to equipment that is fixed or stationary. The term appears in both descriptive and technical registers and can refer to devices, tools, or instruments.

The concept spans several domains. In electronics and consumer devices, portatifs include handheld or portable equipment such as radios portatifs, calculators portatifs, cameras, and other compact devices. In contemporary language, the word portatifs is less common for everyday electronics, where les appareils portables or portables is often used, but portatifs remains visible in technical, historical, or catalog contexts. In the field of tools and machinery, outillage portatif or outils portatifs covers items like portative drills (perceuses portatives), jigsaws (scies portatives), and other handheld power tools.

In professional and field settings, the term also covers portable equipment used for temporary or on-site work, such as portable medical devices, field instruments, or portable laboratory gear. The emphasis is on mobility and ease of transport, sometimes including battery operation or compact design to facilitate use away from fixed installations.

Overall, portatifs denotes the broader category of portable, easily movable equipment within French technical and historical terminology. Related concepts include portable devices and handheld instruments.