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polymorph

[pol-ee-mawrf]
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noun
  1. Biology. an organism having more than one adult form, as the different castes in social ants.
  2. Crystallography. any of the crystal forms assumed by a substance that exhibits polymorphism.
  3. Anatomy. granulocyte.
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Origin of polymorph

1820–30; < Greek polýmorphos; see poly-, -morph
Related formspol·y·mor·phic, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for polymorphic

assorted, changeable, different, discrete, disparate, distinct, distinctive, divers, diverse, diversified, heterogeneous, individual, legion, manifold, many, many-sided, miscellaneous, mixed, motley, multifarious

Examples from the Web for polymorphic

Historical Examples of polymorphic

  • But it is polymorphic variability in the strictest sense of the word.

    Darwin and Modern Science

    A.C. Seward and Others

  • Passant oultre—one of Rabelais' favourite and most polymorphic expressions.

  • Multiform, mul′ti-form, adj. having many forms, polymorphic.

  • Polymorphic species may now be regarded as the link which unites ordinary variability with the historical production of species.

    Darwin and Modern Science

    A.C. Seward and Others

  • Some of the species are polymorphic, many varieties being produced from a single batch of eggs.

    The Butterfly Book

    William Jacob Holland

British Dictionary definitions for polymorphic

polymorph

noun
  1. a species of animal or plant that exhibits polymorphism
  2. any of the crystalline forms of a chemical compound that exhibits polymorphism
  3. Also called: polymorphonuclear leucocyte any of a group of white blood cells that have lobed nuclei and granular cytoplasm and function as phagocytes; they include neutrophils, basophils, and eosinophils
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Word Origin for polymorph

C19: from Greek polumorphos having many forms
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for polymorphic

polymorph

n.

"organism of several forms," 1828, from Greek polymorphos "of many forms" (see polymorphous).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper