different between polymorphous vs polymorphism

English

Etymology

From New Latin polymorphus, from Ancient Greek ?????????? (polúmorphos, “multiform, manifold”), from ????? (polús, “many, much”) + ????? (morph?, “form, shape”).

Adjective

polymorphous (comparative more polymorphous, superlative most polymorphous)

1. Having, or assuming, a variety of forms, characters, or styles
   • 1907, Anon translating Alfred Binet, The Mind and the Brain Book III Chapter II

     Idealism is an exceedingly complex system, varying much with varying authors, very polymorphous, and consequently very difficult to discuss.

2. (biology) Having, or occurring in, several distinct forms
   • 1913, R. Chodat in Popular Science Monthly Volume 82 Janauay 1913, A Grain of Wheat

     In order to establish itself in any locality a plant must hold its own against competitors which, masters of the soil from time immemorial, have been selected to fit the soil and climate. Moreover, emmer is not cultivated anywhere in Palestine. This wild wheat is furthermore a different plant from any known in cultivation, a polymorphous race, no doubt, but a distinct one.

3. (chemistry) Crystallizing in two or more different forms; polymorphic

Synonyms

• (having, or assuming, a variety of forms, characters, or styles): multiform, polymorphic, protean; See also Thesaurus:multiform

Antonyms

(in biology): monomorphic

Related terms

• polymorph
• polymorphic
• polymorphism

Translations

References

• polymorphous in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• polymorphous in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• polymorphous at OneLook Dictionary Search

English

Etymology

From poly- +? -morphism.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /p?l??m??f?z(?)m/
• (US) enPR: päl-?-môr?f?z-?m, IPA^(key): /p?li?m??f?z(?)m/

Noun

polymorphism (countable and uncountable, plural polymorphisms)

1. The ability to assume different forms or shapes.
2. (biology) The coexistence, in the same locality, of two or more distinct forms independent of sex, not connected by intermediate gradations, but produced from common parents.
3. (object-oriented programming) The feature pertaining to the dynamic treatment of data elements based on their type, allowing for an instance of a method to have several definitions.
4. (mathematics, type theory) The property of certain typed formal systems of allowing for the use of type variables and binders/quantifiers over those type variables; likewise, the property of certain expressions (within such typed formal systems) of making use of at least one such typed variable.
5. (crystallography) The ability of a solid material to exist in more than one form or crystal structure; pleomorphism.
6. (genetics) The regular existence of two or more different genotypes within a given species or population; also, variability of amino acid sequences within a gene's protein.
   • 1999, Matt Ridley, Genome, Harper Perennial 2004, p. 137:

     Since 1990 they have found an entirely new role: they promise understanding of how and why our genes are all so different. They hold the key to human polymorphism.

   • 2004, Richard Dawkins, The Ancestor's Tale, Phoenix 2005, p. 63:

     Some polymorphisms can be quite stable – so stable that they span the change from an ancestral to a descendant species.

Hyponyms

Related terms

Translations

See also

• RFLP
• riflip

References

• polymorphism on Wikipedia.Wikipedia