polymorphism
(pɒlɪˈmɔːfɪz(ə)m)
[f. as polymorph + -ism; so F. polymorphisme.]
The condition or character of being polymorphous; the occurrence of something in several different forms.
1. gen.: cf. polymorphous a. 1.
| 1839 Fraser's Mag. XX. 699 The various portraits of her majesty astonish by their perplexing poly- or heteromorphism. 1871 H. Macmillan True Vine iii. (1872) 112 This polymorphism of the Christian character..secures the charm and the contrast of an endless variety. |
2. Nat. Hist., etc.: cf. polymorphous a. 2.
| 1857 Darwin in Life & Lett. (1887) II. 101 The perplexing subject of polymorphism. 1874 Cooke Fungi 4 What is now known of the polymorphism of fungi. 1899 J. Cagney tr. Jaksch's Clin. Diagn. i. (ed. 4) 56 The plague bacillus exhibits an unusual degree of polymorphism. 1913 Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B. CCIV. 227 The following paper gives an account of a series of breeding experiments..in the course of one and a half years' research on insect polymorphism. 1940 E. B. Ford in J. S. Huxley New Systematics 505 It is important to distinguish true polymorphism..from the existence of multiple phases attained at different stages of development. 1976 R. A. Goldsby Biol. xxiii. 552/2 Recent analysis of enzymes and other proteins has..revealed a previously unsuspected number of genetic polymorphisms in protein chains. |
3. Chem. and Min.: cf. polymorphous a. 3.
| 1848 Mem. & Proc. Chem. Soc. III. 93 (heading) Dimorphism and polymorphism. 1858 Buckle Civiliz. (1869) II. vii. 400 note, The difficulties introduced into the study of minerals by the discovery of isomorphism and polymorphism. 1878 Gurney Crystallogr. 83 Dimorphism and trimorphism are particular cases of polymorphism. 1966 Phillips & Williams Inorg. Chem. II. xix. 7 Polymorphism is commonly found among metals, and for one metal there is in general very little difference in energy between one structure and another. 1971 I. G. Gass et al. Understanding Earth iii. 60/2 This property, polymorphism, occurs in the minerals of the mantle. |