polyvalent

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Jump to navigation Jump to search

English

[edit]

Etymology

[edit]

From poly- +‎ -valent.

Adjective

[edit]

polyvalent (comparative more polyvalent, superlative most polyvalent)

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia
  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

[edit]

French

[edit]

Etymology

[edit]

From poly- and -valent

Pronunciation

[edit]

Adjective

[edit]

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

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

Noun

[edit]

polyvalent m (plural polyvalents, feminine polyvalente)

  1. an employee who carries out various different functions

Further reading

[edit]