polymorphism — English Dictionary

Noun

1. The ability to assume different forms or shapes.

   Usage

   • Countable
   • Uncountable

2. 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.

   Usage

   • Countable
   • Uncountable

3. A feature pertaining to the dynamic treatment of data elements based on their type, allowing for a method to have several definitions.

   Usage

   • Countable
   • Uncountable

4. The property of certain typed formal systems of allowing for the use of type variables and binders/quantifiers over those type variables; likewise, the property of certain expressions (within such typed formal systems) of making use of at least one such typed variable.

   Usage

   • Countable
   • Uncountable

5. The ability of a solid material to exist in more than one form or crystal structure; pleomorphism.

   Usage

   • Countable
   • Uncountable

6. The regular existence of two or more different genotypes within a given species or population; also, variability of amino acid sequences within a gene's protein.

   Usage

   • Countable
   • Uncountable

   Examples

   More examples (1)

   Since 1990 they have found an entirely new role: they promise understanding of how and why our genes are all so different. They hold the key to human polymorphism.

   Some polymorphisms can be quite stable – so stable that they span the change from an ancestral to a descendant species.

Noun

1. (genetics) the genetic variation within a population that natural selection can operate on

   Broader terms

   organic phenomenon

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

   Synonyms

   pleomorphism

   Broader terms

   chemical phenomenon

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

   Broader terms

   organic phenomenon