polymorphism

English

Wikipedia

Etymology

poly- + -morphism

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /pɒlɪˈmɔːfɪzəm/, SAMPA: /pQlI"mO:fIz@m/
• (US) enPR: päl-ē-môrʹfĭz-əm, IPA: /pɑliˈmɔrfɪzəm/, SAMPA: /pAli"mOrfIz@m/

Noun

polymorphism (countable and uncountable; plural polymorphisms)

1. The ability to assume different forms or shapes.
2. (crystallography) The ability of a solid material to exist in more than one form or crystal structure; pleomorphism.
3. (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.
4. (computer science) The feature of object-oriented programming pertaining to the dynamic treatment of data elements based on their type, allowing for an instance of a method to have several definitions.

Related terms

• polymorph

Translations

ability to assume different forms or shapes

Croatian: polimorfizam (hr) m., višeobličje (hr) n. Dutch: polymorfisme (nl) n. Finnish: monimuotoisuus, muunneltavuus French: polymorphisme (fr) m. German: Polymorphie (de) f., Polymorphismus (de) m. Greek: πολυμορφισμός (el) (polimorfismós) m. Icelandic: fjölbrigðni f., fjölbreytni f. Italian: polimorfismo (it) m.

Japanese: 多形 (ja) (takei), 多態 (ja) (tatai) Manx: yl-chrooaght (gv) Polish: polimorfizm (pl) m. Portuguese: polimorfismo (pt) m. Slovene: polimorfizem (sl) m. Swedish: polymorfism Turkish: çok biçimlilik (tr), polymorfizm (tr)

crystallography: ability of a material to exist in more than one form

Croatian: polimorfizam (hr) m. Dutch: polymorfisme (nl) n. Finnish: polymorfia, polymorfismi French: polymorphisme (fr) m.

Icelandic: fjölbrigðni f., fjölbreytni f. Italian: polimorfismo (it) m. Japanese: 多形 (ja) (takei), 同質異像 (ja) (dōshitsu-izō) Polish: polimorfizm (pl) m.

biology: coexistence of two or more distinct forms independent of sex

Czech: mnohotvarost (cs) f. Dutch: polymorfisme (nl) n. Finnish: monimuotoisuus, polymorfismi French: polymorphisme (fr) m. Greek: πολυμορφισμός (el) (polimorfismós) m. Icelandic: fjölbrigðni f., fjölbreytni f.

Italian: polimorfismo (it) m. Japanese: 多形性 (ja) (takei-sei) Polish: polimorfizm (pl) m. Slovene: polimorfizem (sl) m. Swedish: polymorfism

computer science: feature of object-oriented programming

Croatian: polimorfizam (hr) m., višeobličje (hr) n. Dutch: polymorfisme (nl) n. French: polymorphisme (fr) m. German: Polymorphie (de) f., Polymorphismus (de) m. Icelandic: fjölbrigðni f., fjölbreytni f. Irish: polamorfacht (ga) f.

Italian: polimorfismo (it) m. Japanese: 多形性 (ja) (takei-sei) Polish: polimorfizm (pl) m. Portuguese: polimorfismo (pt) m. Swedish: polymorfism Turkish: çok biçimlilik (tr), polymorfizm (tr)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

Alemannic German: polymorphism Esperanto: polymorfismo German: Polymorphie f., Vielgestaltigkeit f. Ido: polimorfismo m. Interlingua: polimorfismo Korean: polimal?bisumu

Latin: polymorphismus Latvian: polimorfizma Luxembourgish: polymorphism Spanish: polymorfismo (es) m.

See also

• RFLP
• riflip
• dimorphism