polymorphism
noun
Simple meaning
The ability to assume different forms or shapes.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
pahleemawrfizmSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
pɑliˈmɔɹfɪzm
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
The ability to assume different forms or shapes.
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.
object-oriented programming
A feature pertaining to the dynamic treatment of data elements based on their type, allowing for a method to have several definitions.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The ability to assume different forms or shapes.
Used this way, polymorphism is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.