polyvalent

polyvalent

English

  • Audio (Southern England):(file)

Etymology

From poly- +‎ -valent.

Adjective

polyvalent (comparative more polyvalent, superlative most polyvalent)

  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

French

Etymology

    poly- +‎ -valent

    Pronunciation

    Adjective

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

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

    Noun

    polyvalent m (plural polyvalents, feminine polyvalente)

    1. an employee who carries out various different functions

    Further reading

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