[olddustytrail]

It's not a common term. They're saying the exact same code will run successfully on 5 different CPU types (architectures).

I'm reminded of the Feynman "why" video. The other answers are technically more accurate than mine, and even mine assumes you understand the concept of CPU types. It's difficult to pitch answers at the right level.

[skissane]

Imagine you translate a book into 5 different languages. Then bind the five translations into a single volume. At the front, you put a brief table of contents listing the page number at which each translation begins. Each reader opens the book, checks the table of contents, then jumps to the page containing the translation in their language. All readers are reading the same book, but each reads the translation in their language. Unless you don’t know any of those five languages, in which case the book is unreadable for you.

Technically more accurate and complete than your answer, but an analogy I expect most non-technical people could understand.

[anthk]

AKA any instruction manual in Europe? (French/English/German/Spanish/Italian and so on).