polyvalent

English

Etymology

poly- +‎ -valent

Adjective

polyvalent (comparative more polyvalent, superlative most polyvalent)

1. Multivalent; having a number of different forms, purposes, meanings, aspects or principles.
2. (chemistry) Having a high valence, especially more than three.
3. (chemistry) Having multiple valencies.
4. (biology) Containing antibodies to more than one kind of pathogen.
5. (linguistics) Having several different syllabic or semantic meanings depending on the context.
   • 2004, Jonathan Cohen et. al, “iClay: Digitizing Cuneiform”, in The 5th International Symposium on Virtual Reality, Archaeology and Cultural Heritage‎^[1]:

     The approximately 1000 different cuneiform signs form a complex script system in which practically every symbol is polyvalent, i.e., having multiple phonemic and/or semantic realizations.

Derived terms

• polyvalently

French

Etymology

From poly- and -valent

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pɔ.li.va.lɑ̃/

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

polyvalent (feminine polyvalente, masculine plural polyvalents, feminine plural polyvalentes)

1. versatile, multipurpose; that has various uses, functions, or capacities

Noun

polyvalent m (plural polyvalents, feminine polyvalente)

1. an employee who carries out various different functions

Further reading

• “polyvalent”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.