Definition: A state
or condition in which the absence of
immunologic interference permits the
grafting of tissue or the transfusion
of blood without rejection.
Explanation: Histocompatibility
is the property of having the same,
or mostly the same, alleles of a set
of genes called the major histocompatibility
complex. These genes are expressed in
most tissues as antigens, to which the
immune system makes antibodies. The
immune system at first makes antibodies
to all sorts of antigens, including
those it has never been exposed to,
but stops making them to antigens present
in the body. If the body is exposed
to foreign antigens, as by getting a
tissue graft, it attacks the foreign
material unless it is histocompatible.
A similar system exists in many plants;
its purpose is not to reject grafts,
but to prevent inbreeding. Pollen from
a plant sharing a histocompatibility
gene with the female either fails to
grow or dies soon after germinating.
Source: http://www.answers.com/histocompatibility