Link Centre Dictionary

polymorphism

po·ly·morp·hism

UK/pɒlɪˈmɔːfɪz(ə)m/ US/pɑliˈmɔɹfɪz(ə)m/ uncommon

noun

1.

(chemistry) the existence of different kinds of crystal of the same chemical compound

Synonyms
2.

(biology) the existence of two or more forms of individuals within the same animal species (independent of sex differences)

Origin

* (object-oriented programming) Coined by British computer scientist Christopher Strachey in 1967. By surface analysis, poly- + -morphism.

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.