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Webster 1913 Edition


Polymorphic

Polˊy-mor′phic

,
Adj.
Polymorphous.

Definition 2024


polymorphic

polymorphic

English

Adjective

polymorphic (not comparable)

  1. relating to polymorphism (any sense), able to have several shapes or forms
    • 1859, Charles Darwin, On the Origin of Species
      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.
    • 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.
    • 1996, Rod Ellis, Data abstraction and program design
      Polymorphic redefinition in C++ is achieved by the use of virtual functions.
  2. (programming, of a function) able to take multiple data types

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Translations