polyphasic

[pol-ee-fey-zik]

adjective

1. having more than two phases.

2. habitually doing more than one thing at a time.

   a polyphasic personality.

Word History and Origins

Origin of polyphasic¹

First recorded in 1920–25; polyphase + -ic

Example Sentences

Mice are nocturnal and are "polyphasic sleepers" -- napping for a few minutes before arousing briefly to survey their environment and then resuming their slumber.

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Some have pushed polyphasic sleep as a way to “biohack” the body and extend waking hours.

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Some skeptics of the natural polyphasic sleep theory point to contradictory evidence found among modern hunter-gatherer populations.

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Niall Boyce, an English professor at the University of London, argued that polyphasic sleep may not necessarily have been the norm.

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Whether polyphasic sleep exists among modern humans is also up for debate.

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