1.
2.
[syn: polymorphism, pleomorphism]
3. (biology) the existence of two or more forms of individuals within the same animal species (independent of sex differences);
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Polymorphism \Pol`y*mor"phism\, n.
1. (Crystallog.) Same as Pleomorphism.
[1913 Webster]
2. (Biol.)
(a) The capability of assuming different forms; the
capability of widely varying in form.
(b) Existence in many forms; 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.
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
polymorphism
n 1: (genetics) the genetic variation within a population that
natural selection can operate on
2: (chemistry) the existence of different kinds of crystal of
the same chemical compound [syn: polymorphism,
pleomorphism]
3: (biology) the existence of two or more forms of individuals
within the same animal species (independent of sex
differences)
The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (30 December 2018):
polymorphism
polymorphic
The ability to leave parts of a type in a
typed language unspecified. The term has three distinct uses:
* Parametric polymorphism refers to the use of type variables in
a strongly typed language.
* Overloading, sometimes called ad-hoc polymorphism, means
using the same syntax for different types.
* object-oriented polymorphism allows a variable to refer
to objects whose class is not known at compile time.
(2014-01-05)