polymorphic
adjUS /ˌpɑliˈmɔɹfɪk/
Etymology From poly- + -morphic.
1
Relating to polymorphism (any sense), able to have several shapes or forms.
- I refer to those genera which have sometimes been called "protean" or "polymorphic," in which the species present an inordinate amount of variation; and hardly two naturalists can agree which forms to rank as species and which as varieties.1859 November 24, Charles Darwin, “Variation under Nature”, in On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, […], London: John Murray, […], →OCLC, page 46:
- 1897, Grant Allen, An African Millionaire Dr. Beddersley came -- a dapper little man, with pent-house eyebrows, and keen, small eyes, whom I suspected at sight of being Colonel Clay himself in another of his clever polymorphic embodiments.
2
Computing, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Programming, Sciences Of a function Having or relating to the ability to take multiple data types for a single parameter.
- Polymorphic redefinition in C++ is achieved by the use of virtual functions.1996, Rod Ellis, Data abstraction and program design:
- A polymorphic call looks like a procedural call, but where a procedural call has only one possible target subroutine, a polymorphic call can result in the execution of one of several different subroutines.2012, Karel Driesen, Efficient Polymorphic Calls, page 1:
3
Chemistry, Natural sciences, Physical sciences Relating to a compound that can crystallize into two or more distinct forms (e.g. carbon, which can crystalize into coal, graphite, diamond, etc.)
- The fact that polymorphic equilibrium is not a dynamic equilibrium is significant with respect to the random distribution of velocity of temperature agitation among the molecules.1916, Percy Williams Bridgman, The Velocity of Polymorphic Changes Between Solids, page 84:
- Antonyms
- monomorphic